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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSNine-year-old Bruno lives a comfortable life in Berlin until his father, a high-ranking German officer, is given a new command and the family is forced to relocate to a bleak, isolated house near a place Bruno mishears as "Out-With." Bored, lonely, and desperate for company, Bruno decides to do what he loves most and explore the grounds near his new home. Along the fence that borders the strange camp he can see from his bedroom window, he makes an unlikely friend named Shmuel, a boy his own age sitting on the other side of the wire in striped pajamas.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book do a brother and sister stare from a window at huts behind a high barbed wire fence?
✓ Answer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
From Bruno's bedroom window, he and Gretel get their first glimpse of the camp. They see hundreds of figures in identical clothes, low huts, smoke stacks in the distance, and a fence higher than the house with barbed wire spiraling along the top.
- First half
In what book does a nine-year-old build a tire swing on an oak tree and fall, cutting his knee?
✓ Answer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Desperate for entertainment, Bruno builds a swing from rope and a salvaged tire on a tall oak tree on Gretel's side of the house. He swings too high, slips, and falls to the ground, gashing his knee, which Pavel cleans and bandages.
- First half
In what book does a tutor named Herr Liszt insist that history and geography matter more than storybooks?
✓ Answer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Herr Liszt arrives by bicycle to teach Bruno and Gretel daily lessons. He pushes Nazi-aligned history and geography lessons about "the Fatherland" while dismissing Bruno's love of adventure stories and reading for pleasure.
- Second half
In what book does a nine-year-old wonder whether a guest's tiny mustache is a piece he forgot while shaving?
✓ Answer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Fury arrives for dinner in Berlin and Bruno, told to stand in the hall and speak only when spoken to, spends the time deciding whether the guests deserve all the fuss. He notes that the great leader is shorter than Father and not as strong, and that his mustache is so small it looks like a shaving mistake. This is the visit that costs the family Berlin.
- Second half
In what book does a lieutenant march over and shoot a dog that is barking at a fence?
✓ Answer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Bruno watches from his bedroom window as Kotler shoots a dog that has come to bark at the camp fence. It joins the growing list of reasons Bruno cannot stand the young soldier.
- Near the end
In what book does a shaven-headed narrator say he looks just like his friend, who answers "Only fatter"?
✓ Answer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Lice in the house force Father to shave Bruno's head, and Bruno is almost frightened by his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. At the fence the next day his friend laughs at the sight of him first, and only then does Bruno admit sadly what he has become. The likeness is what makes the disguise seem possible later.
