The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

by John Boyne

New York Times–bestselling author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: In 1935, an orphan is taken in by his aunt—a servant in the home of Adolf Hitler . . . When seven-year-old Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris—and his best friend, a deaf Jewish boy named Anshel—for a new life with his aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy Austrian household. But this is no ordinary time, for it is 1935 and the Second World War is fast approaching; and this is no ordinary house, for it is the Berghof, the home of Adolf Hitler. Pierrot is quickly taken under Hitler's wing and, in the following years, thrown into an increasingly dangerous new world—a world of terror, secrets, and betrayal from which he may never be able to escape—in this powerful historical novel, a tale of innocence corrupted by evil and the difficult road to redemption. "[Pierrot's] traumatic childhood, infatuation and interactions with Hitler, adolescent angst, and destructive choices will captivate teens and prompt thought-provoking discussion." — School Library Journal (starred review) "A small boy once bullied at school, Pierrot turns into a bully himself once he falls under the spell of Nazi pageantry and propaganda . . . As he did in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Boyne crafts an unexpected ending that packs a tremendous emotional wallop." — Publishers Weekly