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  • Published: 13 June 2016
  • ISBN: 9780552573504
  • Imprint: Corgi Childrens
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $19.99

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain




The powerful, unforgettable new novel from the bestselling author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

When Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris for a new life with his Aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy household at the top of the German mountains. 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 this is the Berghof, the home of Adolf Hitler.

Quickly, Pierrot is taken under Hitler's wing, and is thrown into an increasingly dangerous new world: a world of terror, secrets and betrayal, from which he may never be able to escape.

  • Published: 13 June 2016
  • ISBN: 9780552573504
  • Imprint: Corgi Childrens
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $19.99

About the author

John Boyne

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, six for younger readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning book The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John’s other novels, notably The Absolutist and A History of Loneliness, have been widely praised and are international bestsellers. Most recently, The Heart's Invisible Furies was a Richard & Judy Bookclub word-of-mouth bestseller, and A Ladder to the Sky was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award in association with Listowel Writers’ Week.

His novels are published in over fifty languages.

Also by John Boyne

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Praise for The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

Disturbingly vivid, utterly readable and appealing to audiences of all ages

The Bookbag

There is a sureness and a simplicity to the writing that is very impressive . . . In The Boy at the Top of the Mountain, Boyne has delivered a powerful account of how one boy was seduced by Hitler and Nazism and paid the price. The final pages, in which he meets the Jewish friend of his boyhood and seeks redemption, are very moving. Younger readers will lament the corruption of Pierrot; older ones will perceive what Boyne is trying to tell us: if this could happen to Pierrot, it could happen to us

Irish Independent

It’s impossible to put down: devastating and devastatingly good, one of my top three children’s novels of the year so far . . . A difficult story to pull off, but with his perfect pacing, lack of sentimentality and refusal to submit to a neat end, Boyne has won me over – all over again

The Times

Forceful . . . Reminding us that silence and compromise can foster their own overwhelming guilt

Australian

A remarkable feat . . . Compelling

Guardian

A powerful new novel from the author of the highly acclaimed The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and it is equally atmospheric and disturbing . . . Mesmerizing

Parents in Touch

An affecting morality tale . . . It is the chilling portrayal of adolescent corruption and atonement that lingers

Daily Mail

With his perfect pacing, lack of sentimentality and refusal to submit to a neat end, Boyne has written one of the children’s books of the year

The Times

Exciting and thought-provoking . . . An excellent novel

Star, Malaysia

Another winner

Glasgow Sunday Herald

Compelling and thought-provoking

Teach Primary