The nine year old in this book is named Bruno, and he's a young German boy who lives in Berlin with his mom, his dad, and his older sister. His father is a very important man who wears a uniform, and Bruno watches as soldiers come in and out of his house day and night and they salute his father.
His father’s boss is someone that everyone calls the Fury, and the Fury trusts his father so much that he gives him an important job; a job that requires the whole family to move to a place he hears called “Out With.” He assumes this is because the person who worked there before did such a bad job that it was “out with” him and in with his father. To Bruno it really makes no sense at all. What he does know is that now he must go to a new home far away, a place where he is lonely. In Berlin he had lots of friends, but here he is the only boy around, and furthermore, whereas in Berlin he would explore for hours, here he is not permitted to do so, and he does not understand why not.
One thing that Bruno notices is that from his bedroom window he can see people in the distance. They are on the other side of a fence, and curiously enough they are always wearing pajamas! Some of these people come to his house to work, and while Bruno has always been told he must treat his elders respectfully, here he watches as young soldiers speak very disrespectfully to the elderly people wearing pajamas; they call them names he doesn't understand and they even push them around and beat them!
Bruno is very confused, and one day he decides he's going to disobey his father and go exploring! He decides to walk towards the fence...and as he approaches it he notices a shape over by a secluded corner. The shape turns out to be a boy of his own age! He greets the boy, but the boy looks very sad, very hungry, and very pale. Bruno wants to ask him why he looks like this but he knows this would be very rude of him. After chatting with his new friend he finds out that they have the same birthday! "We're like twins!" says Bruno to Shmuel.
When Bruno asks Shmuel if he has any friends, Shmuel tells him he does, but that they fight alot.
"It's so unfair," said Bruno. " I don't see why I have to be stuck over here on this side of the fence where there's no one to talk to and no one to play with and you get to have dozens of friends and are probably playing for hours every day. I'll have to speak to Father about it." - from page 10-11
After finding out that Shmuel is from Poland, Bruno tells him that he thinks Germany is superior to Poland, at which point "Shmuel stared at him but didn't say anything, and Bruno felt a strong desire to change the subject because even as he had said the words, they didn't sound quite right to him and the last thing he wanted was for Shmuel to think that he was being unkind." - from page 11
After talking for a little longer, Shmuel tells him he doesn’t know why he’s in this place wearing pajamas, that he was brought here by mean soldiers, and that only he and his father are there; he doesn’t know what happened to his mother and sisters and has not seen them since they arrived...
Bruno continues to visit his friend as often as he can, sometimes bringing him food…and they want to play together but Shmuel can’t come to his side of the fence. Maybe Bruno can go to the other side? Bruno would like that because he’s jealous of Shmuel, after all, he gets to wear pajamas all day!
There is a scene in the book where Bruno asks his father who the people are...
"Father tilted his head to the left, looking a little confused by the question. 'Soldiers, Bruno,' he said. 'And secretaries. Staff workers. You've seen them all before, of course.'
'No, not them,' said Bruno. 'The people I see from my window. In the huts, in the distance. They're all dressed the same.'
'Ah, those people,' said Father, nodding his head and smiling slightly. 'Those people...well, they're not people at all Bruno.'
'...at least not as we understand the term...[t]hey're nothing to do with you...
'Yes, Father,' said Bruno, unsatisfied by the response.
He opened the door and Father called him back for a moment, standing up and raising an eyebrow as if he'd forgotten something. Bruno remembered the moment his father made the signal, and said the phrase and imitated him exactly.
He pushed his two feet together and shot his right arm into the air before clicking his two heels together and saying in as deep and clear a voice as possible- as much like Father's as he could manage- the words he said every time he left a soldier's presence.
'Heil Hitler,' he said, which he presumed, was another way of saying, 'Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon." - from page 52-54
What happens next between Bruno and Shmuel? Will Bruno be able to go to the other side of the fence and play? Do you want to know?
Read the book!
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