Close Read Questions Boy in the Striped Pajamas

  'A modest wonder of a volume'

Guardian

'Packed with overtones that remain in the imagination'

Independent

'A powerful story, simply told'

Irish gaelic Examiner

'Quite impossible to put down, this is the rare kind of book that doesn't exit your head for days…Unique and captivating'

The Bookseller

'A book so simple, so seemingly effortless, that information technology'southward most perfect…Raw literary talent at its best'

Irish Independent

'Simply written and highly memorable. At that place are no monstrosities on the folio simply the truthful horror is all the more stiff for being implicit'

Ireland on Lord's day

'A powerful and emotionally-charged piece of literature'

Yorkshire Evening Mail service

'An extraordinary book'

TES

'It is a novel that inspires thought and divergence of stance, information technology is a book that deserves to be read, to be discussed, to be held close to the middle'

Achuka

'Overwhelmingly powerful'

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Besides past John Boyne

Novels:

The Thief of Time

The Congress of Rough Riders

Crippen

Next of Kin

Mutiny on the Bounty

The Business firm of Special Purpose

The Absolutist

This House is Haunted

A History of Loneliness

Novels for Younger Readers:

Noah Barleywater Runs Away

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

Stay Where You Are and then Go out

The Male child at the Top of the Mountain

Brusque Stories:

Below the Earth & Other Stories

THIS IS A BORZOI Volume PUBLISHED By ALFRED A. KNOPF

This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author'due south imagination and are not to exist construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are non intended to depict actual events or to modify the fictional nature of the piece of work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2006 by John Boyne

Introduction copyright © 2016 past John Boyne

Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2016 by Oliver Jeffers

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children'southward Books, a sectionalisation of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Originally published in Neat Uk by David Fickling Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, New York, in 2006. Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Information

tk

Ebook ISBN 9781524766535

Random Firm Children's Books supports the Commencement Subpoena and celebrates the right to read.

v4.1

a

For Jamie Lynch

Acknowledgments

For all their advice and insightful comments and for never allowing me to lose my focus on the story, many thanks to David Fickling, Bella Pearson, and Linda Sargent. And for getting backside this from the start, cheers, as ever, to my agent, Simon Trewin. Thanks also to my sometime friend Janette Jenkins for her slap-up encouragement afterwards reading an early draft.

Contents

Cover

Also by John Boyne

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Bruno Makes a Discovery

2. The New House

3. The Hopeless Case

4. What They Saw Through the Window

5. Out of Bounds At All Times and No Exceptions

6. The Overpaid Maid

seven. How Female parent Took Credit For Something That She Hadn't Washed

eight. Why Grandmother Stormed Out

9. Bruno Remembers That He Used to Enjoy Explorations

10. The Dot That Became a Speck That Became a Blob That Became a Figure That Became a Boy

11. The Fury

12. Shmuel Thinks of an Answer to Bruno'south Question

thirteen. The Bottle of Wine

xiv. Bruno Tells a Perfectly Reasonable Lie

15. Something He Shouldn't Have Done

16. The Haircut

17. Mother Gets Her Own Way

xviii. Thinking Up the Concluding Adventure

xix. What Happened the Next Twenty-four hour period

xx. The Last Chapter

About the Author

Nearly the Illustrator

Introduction to the tenth-Anniversary Edition

When I was writing my novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas during 2004 and 2005, I never expected that information technology would go on to accept such a long and varied life. I started with a very simple prototype of two boys sitting on either side of a debate, talking to each other, and was immediately interested in the journey that would bring them there, the conversations they would have and the necessary end that I felt their story would reach.

Ten years subsequently, the novel not only changed my life but introduced me to people who I had never expected to encounter. In my travels, I've been fortunate to meet survivors of the many decease camps that were built effectually Europe during the early on 1940s and hear their stories first manus, equally well equally descendants of the murdered, who have been generous enough to share their memories and grief with me. It's been a privilege to exist present for such moments and to take part in such emotive conversations.

In that location are two things that interest me above all others in young people's literature and I've returned to them several times in subsequent books: the manner in which war affects and destroys the experience of babyhood, which is supposed to exist a happy and carefree catamenia, and what it means for a child to be thrust into an adult situation far alee of fourth dimension. The heroes of my novels are, similar Bruno, always optimistic, resourceful and a little naïve, and they don't want an adult to solve their issues for them, even when they're non always capable of solving them themselves. They're growing up surrounded past confusion and trying to make sense of it all. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes the chaos overwhelms them. But they're never defeated.

Information technology's been a pleasure to work with my friend Oliver Jeffers on this tenth anniversary edition. Oliver and I accept collaborated on a number of books together, but his jacket design and illustrations for The Male child in the Striped Pajamas show an artist at the summit of his artistic and imaginative powers, and, as always, it's my privilege to piece of work with him.

I volition always be grateful to those millions of readers who allowed The Male child in the Striped Pajamas into their lives, those who have been moved by the story and, indeed, those who have taken event with aspects of it and been vocal in their antipathy. After all, the dandy joy of literature, as opposed to politics or faith, is that it embraces differing opinions, information technology encourages debate, it allows us to have heated conversations with our closest friends and love loved ones and through it all no one gets injure, no i gets taken away from their homes and no one gets killed.

I afternoon, when Bruno came domicile from school, he was surprised to detect Maria, the family's maid – who ever kept her caput bowed and never looked up from the rug – continuing in his bedroom, pulling all h

is holding out of the wardrobe and packing them in 4 large wooden crates, even the things he'd subconscious at the back that belonged to him and were nobody else'south business.

'What are you lot doing?' he asked in every bit polite a tone as he could muster, for although he wasn't happy to come dwelling and detect someone going through his possessions, his female parent had always told him that he was to treat Maria respectfully and not but imitate the manner Begetter spoke to her. 'You take your hands off my things.'

Maria shook her head and pointed towards the staircase behind him, where Bruno's mother had merely appeared. She was a alpine woman with long red hair that she bundled into a sort of net behind her head, and she was twisting her easily together nervously as if there was something she didn't desire to have to say or something she didn't want to have to believe.

'Mother,' said Bruno, marching towards her, 'what'south going on? Why is Maria going through my things?'

'She's packing them,' explained Mother.

'Packing them?' he asked, running quickly through the events of the previous few days to consider whether he'd been specially naughty or had used those words out loud that he wasn't allowed to use and was being sent away because of information technology. He couldn't retrieve of annihilation though. In fact over the last few days he had behaved in a perfectly decent manner to anybody and couldn't recollect causing any chaos at all. 'Why?' he asked then. 'What accept I washed?'

Female parent had walked into her own bedroom past then merely Lars, the butler, was in there, packing her things too. She sighed and threw her hands in the air in frustration earlier marching back to the staircase, followed by Bruno, who wasn't going to permit the matter drop without an explanation.

'Female parent,' he insisted. 'What's going on? Are we moving?'

'Come up downstairs with me,' said Mother, leading the way towards the large dining room where the Fury had been to dinner the week before. 'We'll talk down there.'

Bruno ran downstairs and even passed her out on the staircase so that he was waiting in the dining room when she arrived. He looked at her without saying anything for a moment and idea to himself that she couldn't have applied her make-up correctly that morning because the rims of her eyes were more red than usual, like his ain after he'd been causing chaos and got into trouble and concluded upward crying.

'Now, you don't have to worry, Bruno,' said Mother, sitting down in the chair where the beautiful blonde woman who had come to dinner with the Fury had sat and waved at him when Begetter closed the doors. 'In fact if anything it's going to be a great adventure.'

'What is?' he asked. 'Am I being sent away?'

'No, non just you lot,' she said, looking every bit if she might smile for a moment just thinking meliorate of it. 'Nosotros all are. Your begetter and I, Gretel and you lot. All four of us.'

Bruno idea most this and frowned. He wasn't particularly bothered if Gretel was existence sent abroad considering she was a Hopeless Instance and caused nothing but problem for him. But it seemed a piddling unfair that they all had to go with her.

'But where?' he asked. 'Where are we going exactly? Why tin't we stay hither?'

'Your father's job,' explained Mother. 'You know how important it is, don't you?'

'Yeah, of course,' said Bruno, nodding his head, because there were always so many visitors to the house – men in fantastic uniforms, women with typewriters that he had to keep his mucky hands off – and they were always very polite to Father and told each other that he was a man to sentry and that the Fury had big things in heed for him.

'Well, sometimes when someone is very important,' continued Mother, 'the human who employs him asks him to get somewhere else because there's a very special chore that needs doing there.'

'What kind of chore?' asked Bruno, because if he was honest with himself – which he ever tried to exist – he wasn't entirely sure what job Father did.

In school they had talked nigh their fathers one day and Karl had said that his father was a greengrocer, which Bruno knew to exist true because he ran the greengrocer'due south store in the centre of boondocks. And Daniel had said that his father was a teacher, which Bruno knew to be true because he taught the big boys who it was always wise to steer clear of. And Martin had said that his begetter was a chef, which Bruno knew to be truthful because he sometimes nerveless Martin from school and when he did he e'er wore a white smock and a tartan frock, every bit if he'd just stepped out of his kitchen.

But when they asked Bruno what his father did he opened his oral fissure to tell them, and so realized that he didn't know himself. All he could say was that his father was a human to watch and that the Fury had big things in mind for him. Oh, and that he had a fantastic compatible also.

'It'southward a very important job,' said Female parent, hesitating for a moment. 'A job that needs a very special man to do it. You lot can understand that, tin't you?'

'And we all have to go too?' asked Bruno.

'Of course we do,' said Female parent. 'You wouldn't desire Male parent to go to his new task on his own and be lonely there, would you?'

'I suppose not,' said Bruno.

'Father would miss united states of america all terribly if we weren't with him,' she added.

'Who would he miss the nearly?' asked Bruno. 'Me or Gretel?'

'He would miss y'all both equally,' said Mother, for she was a great believer in non playing favourites, which Bruno respected, specially since he knew that he was her favourite really.

'But what about our firm?' asked Bruno. 'Who's going to have care of information technology while nosotros're gone?'

Mother sighed and looked effectually the room as if she might never meet it again. It was a very beautiful house and had 5 floors in full, if you lot included the basement, where Cook made all the nutrient and Maria and Lars sabbatum at the table arguing with each other and calling each other names that yous weren't supposed to use. And if you added in the little room at the top of the house with the slanted windows where Bruno could encounter right beyond Berlin if he stood up on his tiptoes and held onto the frame tightly.

'We take to close up the house for now,' said Mother. 'But we'll come dorsum to it someday.'

'And what about Cook?' asked Bruno. 'And Lars? And Maria? Are they not going to live in it?'

'They're coming with us,' explained Mother. 'Just that'due south plenty questions for now. Maybe you should go upstairs and assistance Maria with your packing.'

Bruno stood upwardly from the seat only didn't go anywhere. At that place were just a few more questions he needed to put to her before he could allow the matter to exist settled.

'And how far abroad is information technology?' he asked. 'The new job, I mean. Is it farther than a mile away?'

'Oh my,' said Mother with a express mirth, although it was a strange kind of laugh because she didn't look happy and turned away from Bruno equally if she didn't want him to encounter her confront. 'Yes, Bruno,' she said. 'It's more than a mile abroad. Quite a lot more than that, in fact.'

Bruno's optics opened wide and his mouth fabricated the shape of an O. He felt his arms stretching out at his sides similar they did whenever something surprised him. 'You don't mean we're leaving Berlin?' he asked, gasping for air equally he got the words out.

'I'm afraid so,' said Mother, nodding her head sadly. 'Your father's job is—'

'But what about school?' said Bruno, interrupting her, a thing he knew he was not supposed to do just which he felt he would be forgiven for on this occasion. 'And what about Karl and Daniel and Martin? How will they know where I am when we desire to do things together?'

'Yous'll have to say goodbye to your friends for the time being,' said Mother. 'Although I'yard certain you'll see them over again in time. And don't interrupt your mother when she's talking, please,' she added, for although this was foreign and unpleasant news, there was certainly no need for Bruno to break the rules of politeness which he had been taught.

'Say goodbye to them?' he asked, staring at her in surprise. 'Say goodbye to them?' he repeated,

spluttering out the words as if his mouth was full of biscuits that he'd munched into tiny pieces but not really swallowed yet. 'Say adieu to Karl and Daniel and Martin?' he connected, his voice coming dangerously close to shouting, which was not allowed indoors. 'Merely they're my three best friends for life!'

'Oh, you'll brand other friends,' said Mother, waving her paw in the air dismissively, equally if the making of a boy's 3 best friends for life was an piece of cake thing.

'Only we had plans,' he protested.

'Plans?' asked Mother, raising an eyebrow. 'What sort of plans?'

'Well, that would exist telling,' said Bruno, who could non reveal the exact nature of the plans – which included causing a lot of chaos, especially in a few weeks' time when school finished for the summer holidays and they didn't have to spend all their time just making plans but could actually put them into outcome instead.

'I'k sad, Bruno,' said Mother, 'simply your plans are but going to accept to wait. Nosotros don't accept a choice in this.'

'But, Mother!'

'Bruno, that's enough,' she said, snapping at him at present and standing upwardly to show him that she was serious when she said that was enough. 'Honestly, merely last week you were lament nearly how much things take changed here recently.'

'Well, I don't like the style we accept to turn all the lights off at night now,' he admitted.

'Everyone has to exercise that,' said Mother. 'It keeps us safe. And who knows, maybe nosotros'll exist in less danger if we move away. Now, I demand you to go upstairs and help Maria with your packing. We don't have as much fourth dimension to prepare equally I would take liked, thanks to some people.'

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