The people are behind him for now. He has infected them with his hatred. He demands absolute loyalty, and when anyone dares to criticize him, they lose their position. I think he will lead a great...

But there was something about the new house that made Bruno think that no one ever laughed there; that there was nothing to laugh at and nothing to be happy about.

I never really noticed it any more, in the way that one often ignores familiar things, like seat cushions or loved ones.

it seemed like a great adventure, at least at the start.

Some things are just sitting there, waiting to be discovered. Other things are probably better off left alone' Nine-year-old

That one contemplates the sky at night does not make it an astronomer.

No, said Bruno quickly, because he always tried to be honest and knew that if he hesitated even for a moment, he would no longer have the courage to say what he thought.

He looked the boy up and down as if he had never seen a child before and wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with one: eat it, ignore it or kick it down the stairs.

Here's a tip though', he told me, leaning over and pressing a hand into my shoulder. 'If you want to improve your time, run faster.

However, as he reflected, he had led him step by step closer to the point in the distance, which in the meantime became a stain, then turned into a splash. And soon after that, the stress became a...

Let's just hope we get to come back here someday when all this is over

no man with any sense should marry the girl to whom he loses his virginity. It's like learning to drive in some clapped-out old banger and then holding on to it for the rest of your life when you've...

There are times when your youth envy you, but I try not to think much about that. An old man should not be jealous of those who come to occupy his position, and remember the time when he was young,...

Situations like that always made Bruno feel very uncomfortable because, in his heart, he knew that there was no reason to be impolite to someone, even if they did work for you. There was such a thing...

Please don't embarrass yourself by offering an opinion.

There was a huge wire fence that ran along the length of the house and turned in at the top, extending further along in either direction, further than she could possibly see. The fence was very high,...

I didn't blow anyone!' he roared. 'If anyone was getting blown it was me. Although, of course, it wasn't me anyway, as it never happened.' 'That's a great quote,' said Mr Denby-Denby. 'We should...

The notion that he had a life outside our life, outside our friendship, was deeply hurtful to me.

If it wasn't for the fact that Bruno was nowhere near as skinny as the boys on his side of the fence, and not quite so pale either, it would have been difficult to tell them apart. It was almost...

It occurs to me that, even if Zoya and I are still alive, my life has already concluded. It will soon lose it and there will be no reason to continue without it. You will see, we are one person. We...

A home is not a building or a street or a city or something so artificial as bricks and mortar. A home is where one's family is...

You're a bit of an oddball, Jonathan,' I said. 'Has anyone ever told you that?''Nineteen people this year alone,' he said. 'And it's only May.

Collars, trench coats or jackboots – uniforms allow us to exercise our cruelty without ever feeling guilt.

I like 'fresh fruit flan', said the donkey. Three excellent words. I don't have one, said Noah immediately before the question could even be asked, and the donkey opened his eyes wide in suprise, and...

Just because someone looks sky at night, doesn`t mean it is astronaut.

There's things that happen in a person's life that are so scorched in the memory and burned into the heart that there's no forgetting them. John Boyne April 28, 1789: The real-life mutiny that...

Do you think . . . ?'I do sometimes, my boy,'admitted the old man. 'When I can't avoid it.

In that direction only pain lies.

Bruno had a pain in his stomach and he could feel something growing inside him, something that when it worked its way up from the lowest depths inside him to the outside world would either make him...

When he closed his eyes, everything around him just felt empty and cold, as if he was in the loneliest place in the world. The middle of nowhere.