El niño con el pijama de rayas. (The Boy in The Stripped Pajamas)
Reviewed by Luis Francisco Vargas, Phoenix Public Library, Ocotillo Branch, AZ -- Críticas, 2/1/2008
tr. by Gemma Roviria Ortega. Spain: Ediciones Salamandra, dist. by Lectorum Pub. 2007. 219p. ISBN 978-84-9838-079-8. pap. $38.95.
Gr 5-9–Bruno, the privileged nine-year-old son of a Nazi general living in Berlin during World War II, is forced to relocate with his family to a modest three-story home next to “Auchviz camp” (Auschwitz). Leaving behind a comfortable lifestyle, a beautiful city, friends, and family is not easy. The youngster learns to cope with loneliness, disappointment, and an indifferent older sister. However, he will learn the greatest lesson from “Shmuel” (Ishmael), a Jewish boy his age captured in Auschwitz. Told through Bruno’s naïve perspective, the story raises more questions than it answers about the rise of the Third Reich, concentration camps, and the
Führer. Moreover, he fails to realize the appalling reality of his closest friend Ishmael. However, an unexpected turn of events and climactic ending gives readers much to talk about. The translator of Harry Potter V and VI, Ortega uses few Iberian Spanish
modismos (colloquialisms) in an otherwise straightforward and clear text. Recommended for all school and public libraries as supplemental Holocaust material, this is ideal for group and guided readings.
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