At the beginning of the story, Bruno isn't happy to find out that his family is moving from Berlin to Poland due to his father getting a new job.
Okay.
After the move, Bruno really misses his house in Berlin as well as his friends but soon makes a secret new friend named Shmuel who lives on the other side of the fence at "Out With".
Bruno finds out that he is moving back to Berlin, so he and Shmuel come up with a plan for one last adventure that involves Bruno wearing striped pajamas and sneaking into the concentration camp.
While Bruno is on the other side of the fence, they search for Shmuel's father but don't find him, and Bruno decides that he really dislikes it there and wants to go home.
Before Bruno is about to leave the camp, he and Shmuel get caught up in a group of Jews that are being taken to the gas chamber and Bruno is never heard from again.
One possible theme for this story is that the choices we make often affect others in addition to ourselves.