The Boy in the Striped Pajamas haunts me now

I started The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne a few days ago and stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish it last night. Gasping and holding my breath as read the last couple pages, I promptly bawled my eyes out and woke Laurel up because I had to talk to someone right away.

It is quite possibly the saddest book I've read ever. I'm emotionally drained now.  This book needs, craves, has to be paired with Night when I teach it.  Any kid who has read Night and even remotely liked it will LOVE this book.

Boyne tells a fictional WWII story about a young boy named Bruno and his family who is forced to move to a remote part of Nazi Germany because of his dad's important work.  Bruno does not understand anything of the world around him, mainly because he's so naive and is just a good, old-fashioned kid.  It's there that a friendship blossoms in the desolate, awful, hateful world around them.

That's all I'm going to tell you.  Read it.  You won't regret this one.  I also hear the movie is well done.  Read it to your elementary children. Wow. Wow. Wow.  Next on my list is to watch it on Netflix.

I am a nerd.

So I started Is It Day or Night? Sunday.  And I finished it last night.  Before I go into how nerdy I am, let me tell you a little about this book.

If you liked Night this year, you will love this book.  Although the beginning is a little slow, the main character, Tiddy, shows readers what it was like for German Jews who actually escaped to America and had to deal with leaving their loved ones behind.  I never really thought about the people who escaped--what they had to go through.  And she pays dearly for her escape.

This historical fiction book talks about events in the 1930's and 1940's...giving me information and a feel for what life was life then.  She talks a lot about baseball and the White Sox.

So the nerdy part for me is that I read it in 1 day.  Not sure that's happened before for a long, long time.

I recommend this book.  It's quick, enlightening, heart-warming.  The main character is real and belivable.  Check it out today.  You won't be disappointed.

What to do now?  I head to the library at 10 for tutoring...got plans to check out a couple more books.  What are your book plans?