Read Irish for the Day

Want to celebrate good ole' St. Patrick's Day? How about reading a book by an Irish Author? Check out The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, a tale of friendship between a little boy and the Jewish man wearing striped pajamas behind a wire fence in Hitler's Germany.

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 9 Up– . . . Through the eyes of Bruno, a naive nine-year-old raised in a privileged household by strict parents whose expectations included good manners and unquestioning respect for parental authority, the author describes a visit from the Fury and the familys sudden move from Berlin to a place called Out-With in Poland. There, not 50 feet away, a high wire fence surrounds a huge dirt area of low huts and large square buildings. From his bedroom window, Bruno can see hundreds (maybe thousands) of people wearing striped pajamas and caps, and something made him feel very cold and unsafe. Uncertain of what his father actually does for a living, the boy is eager to discover the secret of the people on the other side. He follows the fence into the distance, where he meets Shmuel, a skinny, sad-looking Jewish resident who, amazingly, has his same birth date. Bruno shares his thoughts and feelings with Shmuel, some of his food, and his final day at Out-With, knowing instinctively that his father must never learn about this friendship. . . –Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH (read the complete review and more at www.amazon.com).