Bruno and his family
have recently been uprooted from their beautiful home in Berlin to a shabby
salt box in the country of Germany. It all happened after a dinner with the
Fury and his beautiful blonde companion who sat across from his mother.
The next morning,
Bruno came in from breakfast to find the family maid, Maria, digging through
his closet. In the room were four large boxes and she was pulling out clothes. He
was in shock and upset because someone was going through his possessions. He hoped
she would not find his secret stuff.
Bruno went
downstairs to ask his mother if he had done something wrong. He would
understand if his sister, Gretel, had been bad. All the family considered her a
Hopeless Case and had caused nothing but trouble for him anyway, but to ship
him off instead of her seemed wrong.
Mother calmed him
down with the news that the whole family is moving away. Not just him, but
Father, Mother, Gretel and all the help are going on an adventure. She
continued to explain that the Fury gave Bruno’s father a very special job and
the family is moving to support him.
All excitement was
lost when Bruno got a good look at the new house, though. He went from a
staircase he could slide five floors all the way down to a three-storied
banister that was bound to cause splinters. His room was tiny, too. Way smaller
than his sister’s room and with only one window he had to stand on his
tippy-toes to see out.
This new house was
the only one on the block. Not like his home in Berlin that was on a
tree-lined road with his best friends living next door. No more Karl, Daniel
and Martin. It looked like Bruno would have to make new friends and he was
worried since there was no other house in sight.
Well, that was until
he looked out the window. Standing high as he could on his toes, he could see
little boys, skinny fathers, and even old grandfathers. Where were the little
girls, mothers and grandmothers? He did not know, but somewhere in this group
of pajama wearing guys there was bound to be a friend.
This is the
beginning of the 2005 book titled, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by
Irishman John Boyne. He writes the story as it unfolds from a nine-year-old
German boy’s perspective. Prior to the prejudices that may taint Bruno later,
readers experience the Nazi side of the fence at a concentration camp.
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