The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- read by Emily Hoke

Genre: Realistic Fiction

I chose this book because I like realistic fiction and because it looked interesting and suspenseful. I also knew it had to do with the holocaust, and I've studied that a lot, and it's something I'm passionate about.

This book is written through the eyes of a 9-year-old boy named Bruno in the early 1940's. His father is a German Nazi commander. The family moves right next door to Auschwitz death camp, but Bruno is just a naive child and doesn't understand what is going on. Bruno secretly befriends a Jewish boy his age on the "other side of the fence" who is strangely wearing "striped pajamas". Bruno can't figure out why he's strictly forbidden to cross the distinct boundary. Even though he's growing up in a culture telling him evil and prejudiced things, Bruno still has a kind heart and just doesn't understand the whole picture. In this story, you go through an adventure with this little boy as the horrors of this time period are uncovered.

This book is named this because it shows just how naive Bruno is. He calls the prisoners' clothes striped pajamas and wonders why they always wear the same outfit.

My three questions for the author:
1) Why did you end the book the way you did?
2) What inspired you to write the book from a little boy's point of view?
3) Why were the kids of the commander brought to live by the camp and not just the commander?