The Boy in the Striped Pajamas From Booklist Gr. 7-10. Some of the most thought-provoking Holocaust books are about bystanders, including those who say they did not know what was happening. This first novel tells the bystander story from the viewpoint of an innocent child. Bruno is nine when his family moves from their luxurious Berlin home to the country, where "the Fury" has appointed Bruno's father commandant. Lost and lonely, the child hates the upheaval, while his stern but kind father celebrates his success because he has learned to follow orders. Bruno can see a concentration camp in the distance, but he has no idea what is going on, even when he eventually meets and makes friends with Shmuel, a boy from Cracow, who lives on the other side of the camp fence. The boys meet every day. They even discover that they have the same birthday. It's all part of a poignant construct: Shmuel is Bruno's alternative self, and as the story builds to a horrifying climax, the innocent's experience brings home the unimaginable horror. Pair this with Anne Frank's classic diary and Anita Lobel's No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War (1998). Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved  Review "Certain to be one of the publishing sensations of 2006." -The Observer (U.K.)"A memorable and moving story." -The Oxford Times (U.K.)"A small wonder of a book." -The Guardian (U.K.)"A book so simple, so seemingly effortless, that it's almost perfect." -The Irish Independent"An extraordinary book." -The Irish Examiner               See all Product description