The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
John Boyne, 2006
Historical fiction Young adultContemporary fictionLiterary fiction
A boy's friendship with a child in striped clothes tests the stories adults tell about who belongs where.
Feels like dread and serenity. About friendship, love and time.
A page from the book
A greeting repeated until it means nothing, and everything.
Heil Hitler,“ he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying, ”Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon. John Boyne.John Boyne is Irish, and he has said he wrote the novel's first draft in two and a half days.
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Questions readers ask
- What is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas like?
- Feels like dread and serenity. About friendship, love and time.
- What should I read after The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?
- If you liked The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, try Happy Place (Emily Henry), Beautiful Disaster (Jamie McGuire) and Number the Stars (Lois Lowry).
A taste of the feed
How a friendship quietly becomes the person you can't unlove.
He’s become my best friend the way the others did. Bit by bit, sand passing through an hour glass so slowly, it’s impossible to pin down the moment it happens. When suddenly, more of my heart belongs to him than doesn’t, and I know I’ll never get a single grain back.
Happy Place · Emily Henry
What it sounds like to be told you're the one thing someone got right.
You know why I want you? I didn’t know I was lost until you found me. I didn’t know what alone was until the first night I spent without you in my bed. You’re the one thing I’ve got right. You’re what I’ve been waiting for, Pigeon.
Beautiful Disaster · Jamie McGuire
What it means when a five-year-old stops seeing the soldiers at all.
As they turned to enter their building, both girls looked straight ahead, toward the door. They did it purposely so that they would not catch the eyes or the attention of two more soldiers, who stood with their guns on this corner as well. Kirsti scurried ahead of them through the door, chattering about the picture she was bringing home from kindergarten to show Mama. For Kirsti, the soldiers were simply part of the landscape, something that had always been there, on every corner, as unimportant as lampposts, throughout her remembered life.
Number the Stars · Lois Lowry
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