77. Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. 240 pages. 6.23.09.

John Boyne's young adult novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas rightly deserves all of the high praise that lead me to read the work in the first place. Told from the perspective of a nine-year-old Nazi officer's son, the story describes life"on the other side of the fence" as Bruno struggles with a sudden move from Berlin to Auschwitz, the heavy military presence in his otherwise civilian life, and the meeting of an unlikely friend.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is no less striking for its charming and simple naivety; indeed, the youthful ignorance and innocence is what makes the novel so endearing, and ultimately heartbreaking. Boyne shows his reader under what circumstances the Commandant of a concentration camp can be seen as a "good man", and the true difference between boys and families living on opposite sides of the fence.