He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. 12+)Īfter Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.

Readers will not soon forget these characters, whose actions and passions illuminate and enliven a historical era about which they may have heard much, but understood little.

As usual, Rinaldi (Finishing Becca, 1994, etc.) has done her homework the book is solidly researched and extremely well written. After determining that her actions were just a cover for her own unseemly feelings for him, Sarah is devastated by what she has done, and even more devastated by news of the doctor's death in battle. When the doctor goes into battle Sarah realizes that she may have misjudged him and cries out for forgiveness, never certain that he granted it. Warren is so hurt and angered by Sarah's suspicions that a rift is created. Joseph Warren watches over the large Revere household, but Sarah suspects that his interest in her attractive stepmother, Rachel, is more than friendly. On the eve of the American Revolution, as war approaches, Sarah Revere's father, Paul, is often away from home as he rides from town to town warning the militias about British troop movements and deployment in the region.

Finishing Becca by Ann Rinaldi