The inside book jacket of John Boyne's novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, reads:

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence.

It doesn't tell you very much, does it? Well, having just finished a marathon read of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,  I am sorry to say that I can tell you only a little more.

It is one of those books that you need to explore for yourself. Bruno, the main character, would agree. Bruno loves exploring.

Oh man. I really want to tell you about this book. I want to tell you all about it. I want to tell you about Pavel and Gretel and Kotler and especially Shmuel. I want to tell you about a big house, a smaller house, and a camp full of tiny houses. I want to tell you about the rain and the mud and the tire swing. I want to tell you about an angry little man with an angry little moustache, and a mysterious place called Out-With. But I won't. I won't tell you about any of this because you're going to read all about it for yourself, aren't you?

Are you still on the fence? Which side will you fall? Bruno is waiting.

I give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas 4 Words out of 4 -- the highest rating we allow.

WORD WORD WORD WORD

Buy it here.

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way?" Bernadette sang the Friends theme song quietly as she took her dog, Tiger, for a walk. It wasn't the perfect weather for walking but Bernadette (or Bee as everyone called her) was bored. Her parents were gone so she couldn't have anyone over or go anywhere, and there was nothing good on TV. So, she decided she could use the exercise.

You know what they say: Never judge a book by its cover. Well, I decided to read The Day My Mother Left, by James Prosek, because I loved the cover. It pictures two birds, a scarlet tanager and a yellow warbler. The carefully rendered drawings were clearly done by a kid--James Prosek himself, it turns out, when he was 10 or 11 years old.

I really like birds, but in this book, I found something better--a wonderful, sad, very real story about a boy. (I like boys, too.) This is a novel, but it is based on the author's own life. It’s about this kid named Jeremy, whose mother leaves his father, his teenage sister, and him when he is 9. Having your mom walk out on your family without warning is hard enough, but Jeremy's mom runs off with the father of his most hated enemy, the 5th grade bully. In the sickening weeks and months that follow, Jeremy waits for his mother to return, but she doesn't. He waits for a phone call, or a letter; a birthday present or a Christmas present. Nothing.

Jeremy's dad is totally absorbed in his own depression. Jeremy's sister stays away from home as much as possible. In his aloneness, the boy turns to the solace of nature, where he finds his own strengths and a talent for drawing.

This is not a sappy book, there's no blubbering self-pity or tiresome angst. The prose is clean and honest, and the illustrations--etchings of birds, both alive and dead--have the same qualities. This is a story about the terrible things that parents sometimes do to the children they love; and the amazing resilience that kids can show in spite of it all. It's a really good story. I give it 3 and a half WORDs out of 4.

WORD WORD WORD WO

Dik Sun
- by Shelley Susan Bartolazzi, Grade 10

Dik Sun set upon the banks of a raging river,
Mountains on the horizon wearing their white snow caps shiver,
Ranchers aplenty made it their home,
In the prairies surrounding do their cattle and sheep roam,
Some call it home, some call it the last of the west,
Whatever you want to call it, Dik Sun is a just right place to rest,
It's a country town, always calm and laid back,
In winter the roads are snow packed,
In summer the roads are coated with dust,
But by far it's the simplest!