The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

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Publication Information: Oxford; New York: David Fickling Books 2006. 224 p.

Reading Level: Teens
Min./Max. Grade Level: 7 - Adult
Lexile: 1080

Reviews:
Booklist, vol 102, number 21, p48
School Library Journal, vol 52, issue 9, p202, Starred Review
Publishers Weekly, vol 253, issue 28, p158
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2006

Bruno, a nine-year-old German boy, tells the story of his family's move from Berlin to Auschwitz. Bruno's stern father is an officer at the concentration camp; therefore, his family lives near the grounds. Bruno can see the prisoners from his window, but has no idea what is going on. On an adventure one day, Bruno meets a young boy, Shmuel, who lives on the other side of the fence. They form a friendship despite their backgrounds and talk every day. However, tragedy strikes when Bruno dresses up as a prisoner to help Shmuel find his lost father within the gates of Auschwitz.

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Maus by Art Spiegelman

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Publication Information: New York: Pantheon Books copyright 1986. 159 p.

Sequel: Maus: a survivor's tale II: and here my troubles began.

Summary: The author-illustrator traces his father's imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp through a series of disarming and unusual cartoons arranged to tell the story as a novel.

Non-fiction
Reading Level: Adults

Pulitzer Prize 1992
YALSA 100 Best Books (1950 - 2000)
YALSA Best Books for the College-Bound 1999

The book alternates the stories told by Spiegelman's father, Vladek, about life in Poland before and during WWII and the distressed relationship between Spiegelman and his father and his second wife. The first part of this two part series ends abruptly with Spiegelman having an awful fight with his father.

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