For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. 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. 10-14)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.

Despite featuring upperclassmen, Steph’s aboveboard actions and mostly pure thoughts make this a fun and light text suitable for a younger audience wanting to read about older teens. Steph’s relationships with male characters, especially Jason and her grandfather, consistently ring true and develop Steph into a refreshingly believable teen. Snippets from this sometimes comically outdated text, introduce and loosely shape Cabot’s chapters, but don’t dominate letting Steph’s plan play out naturally as she rockets to popularity and tries to figure out how to reconcile her new status with Jason, her childhood best friend. Tired of suffering for her spill, Steph puts faith in How to Be Popular, a book specializing in reputation resuscitation. Armed with a plan, Steph Landry starts junior year determined to shake her place as the butt of her town’s saying, “Don’t pull a Steph Landry.” The saying, coined by her stereotypically popular classmate, Lauren, is the product of a sixth-grade incident when Steph dropped her Super Big Gulp on Lauren’s white designer skirt.

Meg cabot how to be popular