Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a story about a young boy that finds out he is suddenly moving far away for his father’s “important” job. The young Bruno finds the move disappointing and unfair. The new house is small and disappointing as well. In his boredom, Bruno began to explore through the new house and went outside as well. Journeying further away from the house he found something he’d never seen before. He saw tons of boys roaming around in striped pajamas behind a barbed wire. With a new friend made from the other side of the wire, he slowly becomes more involved with something that he never should have let himself find out about.

            The novel had good and bad attributes. The book had decent character development and had a good storyline. But characters and a storyline are only part of a good story, and this novel lacked intriguing events in-between the set up for the story (the beginning), and the conclusion to the story. If it were to be more entertaining, either more would have to be added to the story or it should be shortened.

            Out of five stars, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas would make 2 stars. If an interesting storyline is enough to occupy you as a reader, then you could probably enjoy it through how the story unfolds. But if you lack patience for lengthy chapters centered on one event then it’s hard to read through until you get closer to the end of the novel.

 

Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII
Reviewed by: Cord Bates
Teacher: Mara Pufko