Book Review Blog: List your book title and your name/grade. Follow Rubric Guidelines. Write a short, interesting summary. (Do not give the ending away.) Make a statement about how the main character feels at an important part in the story and give a detail that supports your statement. Recommend who would like to read this book and why-be specific. **Use my review or an online review for an example. |
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS
By John Boyne This book is set in Europe during WWII. Bruno is a 9 year old German boy who’s father becomes the Commandant at a camp in Poland that Bruno mispronounces as Out With. Bruno and his family move to a new house and country side that Bruno thinks are boring and unfriendly. He has a tutor who comes to the house so Bruno does not ever go to town or ever has contact with other children besides his sister. He watches thousands of people across a fence who all wear striped pajamas, are very skinny, and look so sad. He sees many children in the fence and wishes he could make friends. Bruno has been told to never go near the fence but one day he wants an adventure so he walks the fence and finds a boy sitting next to it named Shmuel. Shmuel has the same birthday as Bruno does! They sit and talk every day about their lives. Shmuel asks Bruno to bring food when he comes to visit. Since Bruno’s dad is the Commandant of the camp, Bruno simply believes it must be a nice place despite what he sees. He knows his dad is a kind man who would treat people nicely. One day Shmuel’s father is missing. Bruno agrees to crawl under the fence to help Shmuel to find his dad. For disguise Shmuel has brought an extra pair of striped pajamas for Bruno to wear inside the camp. While the two boys search the camp for Shmuel’s father a group of soldiers gathers a crowd of people standing around outside. The two boys get mixed up into this crowd. The crowd is ordered into a large building, all the lights are turned off, and a loud noise is heard. Bruno and Shmuel grab hands to comfort each other. Bruno never makes it back to his house and no one ever sees him again. His mother, father, and sister are devastated. What really happened to Bruno? Read this dramatic WWII novel to find out. I would recommend this book to my brother, Jerry. He was in the army reserves for 25 years and got to tour Germany to see war camps. He would find this story a great read. Reviewer: Sandra Olschlager 4/20/10 |
