The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ~ John Boyne

Imagine, if you will, you are an eight year old boy who is always up for an adventure and thrives on them, has three very best friends ,and most of all loves living in Berlin. Imagine you are the son of an Army general and you always have soldiers in and out of your house. Take a step back, and think for a while what it would be like to be in this little boys position. Life is perfect. Berlin is amazing, and you get to spend day after day running around looking for adventure with your three very best friends. This was the life for Bruno; empathizes on WAS because one day he came home after a wonderful adventure to find out another one was just around the corner.

He didn't know much. He was eight- how much did you except him to know? All he knew was they were leaving Berlin on orders of his father's work, they would be staying in "Out-With" for the 'unseeable future' and that his sister, the 'hope-less cause' would be his only friend. He'd have to say good-bye to his very best friends, his loving grandparents, and his big, comfy home. Little did he know he'd never see the amazing view of Berlin from his little window in his room again.

Life at Out-With wasn't that bad. Well, maybe. Bruno just had to sit day after day listening to his boring old tutor teach, playing with his toys by himself in his room, rolling his eyes every time his 'hope-less cause' of a sister, Gretel, would flirt with the way old sergeant which he hated and waiting day after day for adventure. Life was horrible... until the day he met Shmuel.

Shmuel was just like Bruno; other than the fact that he is bald, stick-thin, and lived on the other side of the barbed-wire fence. Nevertheless, they still became best friends. They would meet everyday and talk and play. Bruno would some days bring Shmuel a nice snack, and would tell him about Berlin and the great times he had there. Shmuel would tell of Poland and life on the other side of the fence. They soon became best friends and practically brothers. Too soon though, Bruno finds out they are moving back to Berlin. He must say good-bye to Shmuel. He wasn't prepared to say good-bye to his very best friend. No one understood him there at Out-With.. no one but Shmuel. How could he all the sudden just leave him behind? He had decided that he wanted to see what life is like on the other side of the fence; also he had promised to help find Shmuel's missing father. He sliped on a pair of matching stripped pajamas, and slided under a Bruno-sized hole in the fence. It doesn't matter what comes next.. because they two best friends are together... never to be apart again. (Well, actually it does quite matter... I just don't want to be a spoil sport...)

If I had to describe this book in 3 words I would probably use sad, touching, and incredible. I loved it. You really get one on one with Bruno and all you want is for him to return home and be happy and when the feeling gets intense, at least if you are me, you just stop and go, "Oh my gosh." and sit there dumbfounded. The way this book is set up is rather interesting though, because as you go through you find that you end up knowing more about what is going on then Bruno does... which is kind of cool. I am not a wizard at the holocaust and I still got most of it. From my knowledge, it is pretty close to what really could have happened in real live history and sometimes you forget it is just a story is is so well researched and all. In the book the author clearly, though not stated directly, is not a major fan of the holocaust and makes disguised references to just how wrong it was; example being the grandmother. I must agree with him in this. The people on the other side of the fence were treated horribly and no one, no matter who they are, should ever be treated that way. I really think that as I read this book I became more aware about more of what was going on and just kind of saw how terrible it was. It made me want to study more the things that happened on the other side of the fence so I can know for sure what was happening and so I can feel for those on that had to go through that.

Well, you are probably getting tired, watery eyes from reading this so long, so I will make this quick. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was an amazing book and I would suggest anyone to read it. It was touching and rather educational. Also, as an added bonus, it is only like 215 short little pages so reading it was a breeze. My only advise to you is to get off your behind right now and pick up this book, because it was really just the definition of amazing.

Or.. if you are too afraid to bleed to death from a paper cut due to reading... there is a movie. I have not seen it... but there is one. I bet it is good... but you can be the judge of that. ( Trying to post the video... but am not that genius.. so click HERE if you want to see the trailer!)