I originally read this book awhile back and gave it 4 stars. But now listening to the Jewish community about the dangers of this book and how harmful it is, I felt it was imperative to go back and redo my review.

The book did offer a unique perspective - that of a young German child named Bruno who seemingly had no knowledge about the horrors of what was happening, despite being the child of a high ranking SS Officer. This is historically inaccurate. Bruno would have been part of Hitler's Youth, an indoctrination program for children in Germany that taught them to support Nazi ideals.

There was also no development of the young Jewish character Schmuel. His character is simply there to teach Bruno a lesson. It's also highly unlikely that Schmuel would have even survived, as many children were killed upon arrival. But even if he did, there's no way he would be able to visit Bruno at the fence multiple times. 

Finally, the ending is extremely problematic. It's viewed as a tragedy that *Bruno* was accidentally killed in the roundup of Jews to the gas chambers. There wasn't an expression of tragedy for the Jewish people that met their demise alongside him. It was all about the young German boy.