The Boy in the Striped Pajama

Despite some hesitation to read yet another holocaust book, we decided to read this one by John Boyne during the first month back at school since it's quick and easy juvenile fiction. It cushions a lot of the harsh realities of the holocaust being from the point of view of a child. Yet it's still a heartbreaking tale, especially for those of us who are all too aware of the grisly details that the child is too innocent to imagine. It made for a great discussion that explored new territory in this familiar topic. We used a few of the discussion questions that we found intriguing, but also added our own. Such as...

1) Did you sense that there was an affair between any of the characters in the novel? Why or why not?

2) Did the reaction of the boys in the novel seem typical of boys their age? Why was each of the boys so naive as to what was happening?

3) Do you think that other ordinary citizens were as blind a Bruno to what was happening? How does our society turn a blind eye to similar issues in our communities and world today? Could another holocaust happen today? How can we prevent it?

4) Discuss what motivates the parents to be involved in such a diabolical campaign. What would you have done had you been in their positions? What if you were one of the children? A German citizen?

5) Were you surprised at the ending? What was your response to the outcome of the story?

6) If you watched the movie, did you find it to be satisfying? How closely did it follow the book? What was left out or added?

Book club menu:

We had sausage with sauerkraut and chocolate brownies for the Germans (or to smuggle to Shmuel). There were chips with guacamole and/or taco dip, chicken wings, meatballs, and cookies for the general food lovers. And for fall we added hot apple cider, carrot cake, peanuts with candy corn, and the "good" popcorn (candy coated).