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Interviews | July 4, 2009

Jill Owens: IMG Powells.com Interview: Luis Alberto Urrea



luisalbertourreaLuis Alberto Urrea is a poet, novelist, journalist, and essayist who has been writing about the relationship between the United States and Mexico,... Continue »
  1. $17.49 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Into the Beautiful North

    Luis Alberto Urrea

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1 Local Warehouse Children's Young Adult- General


Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Movie Tie-In Edition)

by John Boyne

Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Movie Tie-In Edition) Cover

ISBN13: 9780385751896
ISBN10: 0385751893
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Synopsis:

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Yonathan, April 17, 2009 (view all comments by Yonathan)
While there has been much debate over the credibility of the historical facts in the story, I don't find this of particular personal relevance. The book tells the story of 9-year-old Bruno who lives in high society Berlin. Seen through his eyes, the reader is taken into a world that Bruno cannot make sense of (his father wears a uniform, they have the "Fury" over for dinner, and they unexpectedly move to "Out-With") and that he can only comprehend in the way a child can. While 9 might be a little old for a child to be this naive, the point of the story is to bring us into a subject matter that will always be difficult to understand. By putting us on the other side of the fence, on the side where the Nazi party and their children live, we are brought into a world that is scary for young Bruno although not nearly as scary as it is for his friend Shmuel, the title character on the other side of the fence.

To analyze the historical inconsistencies doesn't appeal to me as, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I didn't feel like the book did a disservice by placing Bruno with his father rather than in the Hitler Juden. The book is remarakably touching and simple, yet contains some beautiful sentences evocative of a writer who successfully gets to the heart of human evil and cruelty. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about the Holocaust, whether young or old, whose tale of a friendship speaks volumes about the what we as humans choose not to see.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385751896
Author:
Boyne, John
Publisher:
David Fickling Books
Subject:
Concentration camps
Subject:
Poland
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Friendship
Subject:
Nazis
Subject:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Subject:
World War, 1939-1945
Subject:
Jews
Subject:
Historical - Holocaust
Subject:
Children's 12-Up - Fiction - History
Series:
Random House Movie Tie-In Books
Publication Date:
October 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
7-9
Language:
English
Pages:
215
Dimensions:
7.80x5.20x.60 in. .40 lbs.

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