Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Wow!  This was a tremendous novel--almost painful to watch it unfold, but you have to keep reading.  The story begins with a young boy (I believe around 10ish) telling how angry he was to have to move because of his father's new position.  Throughout the novel, his naive idea about where he was living was slowly peeling away.  Outstanding novel.  Appropriate Holocaust novel for middle school readers, but not so young that even adults wouldn't find this novel an amazing read.  I've seen where the reading level is around 8.3 (lexile 1080), but I feel this is a little high.  I will definately recommend this book to my junior high students.


My daughters have told me (and I discovered this to be true after reading the book) that this book has been made into a movie.  I'm not big into movies, so I probably won't pick it up.  Nonetheless, it is out there.

John Boyne has written numerous other novels for both adults and adolescents.  In fact, I've added one of his more adult novels to my endless "To Read" list.  See his website by clicking HERE.

1 comment:

  1. Since I have read this book, I've recommended to several of my junior high readers--particularly the reluctant ones. This recommendation has produced some wonderful results in getting those non-reading students to enjoy a book (as one would "enjoy" a Holocaust novel).

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