ALOUD: John Boyne

John Boyne is the author of seven novels – including House of Special Purpose – and two novellas, which have been published in over 40 languages. He lives in Dublin, where he is currently working on his eighth novel. Boyne presents his award-winning novel for young adults, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Set in 1940s Nazi Europe, it is the touching story of an unforeseen friendship formed between a privileged German boy and a Jewish boy held captive in a Polish concentration camp.

Mark Medley writes for the National Post. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in publications across North America, including the Globe and Mail, The Walrus, This Magazine, Descant, Eye Weekly, Torontoist, Spacing, and Mississippi Review.

Berlin 1942: When nine-year-old Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far away. Close by their new house, a tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see; cutting him off from the strange people wearing striped pajamas in the distance.
Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.