Olivier Rinckel Rinckel itibaren Akyazı Köyü, 44350 Akyazı Köyü/Yazıhan/Malatya, Türkiye
I loved The Giver, so I was very excited to read this "sequel." However, I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much. The society that is described didn't come to life for me as much and I found the way that she was taken in kind of odd. I did like some of the twists at the end and how the characters in this book show up again in Messenger.
Add this one to the growing list of remarkable books about the Holocaust. This chilling fable is about a young nine year old boy named Bruno who is the son of the Nazi Commandant of Auchswitz. He can look out his window and see the concentration camp, but he doesn’t understand what it is. He imagines that it is some kind of strange town filled with people wearing striped pajamas. One day, he meets Shmuel, a nine year old boy who lives on the other side of the barbed wire. They become friends and meet regularly. Bruno invites Shmuel to visit on his side, but Shmuel is afraid of the cruel guards and the punishment that awaits if he gets caught. So Bruno asks Shmuel if he can visit where Shmuel lives. Once on the other side, Bruno arrives at the camp just as a group of prisoners is being lined up to be taken to the “showers,” where they will all be gassed.
I'm considering bringing this on vacation. Since it is so long, I would then only need to pack one book. I have also wanted to read this book for a long time. When I started high school. Bridget said she had read this book several times and would like to go right back to the beginning when she finished. My mother also recommended it, and there is the classic movie.