The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (2007, Paperback, Reprint)

I bought this book because I saw the movie. This is clearly a children's book and is presented as fiction. The British spelling "pyjamas" and the U.S. spelling "pajamas" are both used - the editors should have caught this. The message it sends though is powerful - powerful enough to overshadow some of the historical inaccuracies and spelling issues. I think a few of the historical flaws could have been handled a little better though, perhaps with a some editing. Firstly, the 9 (8 in the movie) year old son of a senior SS officer would have been in the Jungvolk and would be well versed in Fuhrer worship and would have at least a rudimentary hatred of Jews. To not know what a Jew is or that he was an Aryan at this point is unlikely. Secondly, the concept of Hitler and Eva Braun coming over for dinner to discuss job appointments is simply impossible. This would have been Himmler's domain and Hitler and Braun were not seen together in public. Thirdly, Though "Out-with" for Auschwitz and "Fury" for Fuhrer are cute puns for Bruno to use, when others are speaking the correct words should be used. A child with a speech impediment is believable, for everyone to use it - well that's a bit much. Fourth, Auschwitz had one commander from the beginning to almost the end, Bruno's father seems to have taken over in '43 and was relieved at some point before the end of the war in '45. Fifth and last, as the point is not to nit-pick this book to death. A 9 year old Jewish child, would normally have been gassed on arrival or selected for some horrific medical experiment. If one did slip through he/she would never have survived over a year in Auschwitz or had enough unsupervised free time to hang out at the fence. Now that I've finished attacking the historical accuracy, I don't wish to be misunderstood. It is an EXCELLENT book and I reccomend it highly. The message it sends is clear and powerful it should be read by all. I disagree with the author on one point - The last lines of the book "Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age.". - Sadly, it still does happen........

This is a great book. I now have some idea about the holicost now. It's an easy read and easy to follow. I wish it was just a little bit more detailed. It's a good learning tool that could easily be used as a discussion or for a book report.