The Boy In the Striped Pajamas
By: John Boyne
Summary-
Bruno is a nine year old boy. His father is a Nazi soldier in Germany until his family and himself are transferred so the father can work at Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, Bruno goes exploring and finds a wire fence. On the other side of that fence there is a boy wearing striped pajamas. His name is Shmuel. Bruno does not understand why Shmuel must stay inside the fence; he believes Shmuel is just like him, expect skinnier and in need of a meal. He learns from his father that they are supposed to despise the people in the striped pajamas, but Bruno visits Shmuel anyways because he doesn't want to let him down or abandon him. Later, Samuel's father goes missing. Bruno decides to borrow some striped pajamas and sneak through the fence to help Shmuel look for him. That when everything goes wrong.
Theme-
Don't discriminate against cultures different than you. You can find friendship in the most unexpected places. Bruno believed Shmuel deserved to be treated equally to him, he respected and believed in him even when everyone was telling him Jews were mongrels. Bruno did not think Shmuel and him couldn't be friends just because of culture. He believed the right thing to do was to be there for Shmuel.