It Is Possible, You Know, To Drift

Bruno Opened His Eyes In Wonder At The Things He Saw. In His Imagination He Had Tough That All The Huts Were Full Of Happy Families, Some Of Whom Sat Outside On Rocking Chairs In The Evening And Told Stories About How Things Were So Much Better When They Were Children And They'd Had Nowadays. He Thought That All The Boys And Girls Who Lived There Would Be In Different Groups, Playing Tennis Or Football, Skipping And Drawing Out Squares For Hopscotch On The Ground. As It Turned Out, All The Things He Thought Might Be There-wern't.'' -the Boy In The Striped Pajamas

I Don't Buy Into The Idea That An Irish Writer Should Write About Ireland, Or A Gay Writer Should Write About Being Gay. But When I Found The Right Story, I Saw It As An Opportunity To Write About Being A Teenager And Being Gay. Most People, Whether You're Gay Or Straight Or Whatever, Have Experienced That Relationship Where One Person Is Much More Interested Than The Other.

I Was Dropped By My Publisher After My First Two Books. But I Always Believed In Myself.

I Don't Change The Language For Children Books. I Don't Make The Language Simpler. I Use Words That They Might Have To Look Up In The Dictionary. The Books Are Shorter, But There's Just Not That Much Difference Other Than That To Be Honest. And The Funny Thing Is, I Have Adult Writer Friends [to Whom I Would Say], "would You Think Of Writing A Children's Book?" And They Go, "no, God, I Wouldn't Know How." They're Quite Intimidated By The Concept Of It. And When I Say To Children's Books Writers, Would They Write An Adult Book, They Say No Because They Think They're Too Good For It.

What Exactly Was The Difference? He Wondered To Himself. And Who Decided Which People Wore The Striped Pajamas And Which People Wore The Uniforms?