The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Summery:

"When Death has a story to tell, you listen." (Markus Zusak). Death is quite busy during World War 2, but for some reason, Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg catch his interest. Liesel is a young girl who lives with her foster parents, the Hubermanns, in a small fictional town in Germany under Nazi rule. Rosa Hubermann, Liesel's foster mom, has a unique personality. She is cruel and harsh, and her language is foul, but she loves and has amazing self-sacrifice. Hans Hubermann, Liesel’s foster dad, is quiet but has a kind of kindness that can penetrate any suffering and traumatized person. Hans helps her through many nightmares and eventually teaches her how to read using a book Liesel stole. Liesel starts stealing books because of her love for reading. Each stolen book seems to provide solace and guidance for Liesel during challenging times. Additionally, Liesel steals books as a form of resistance against the Nazis, who were burning literature. Liesel's best friend is a boy next door, Rudy Steiner, whose hair is the color of lemons and who is one of six children. He is obsessed with an athlete Jesse Owens. Liesel’s foster parents begin to hide a Jew named Max Vandenburg, whose father saved Hans Hubermann’s life. As Leisel makes friends with Germans and Jews she has to find a way to balance the divided nations.

Word of Caution:

This book contains a lot of violent and tragic deaths, and the language is pretty foul.

Positive Notes:

This book is interesting for three reasons. First, the book is written with Death as a narrator, which gives the readers an interesting view of death and World War Two. Second, it is from the perspective of a child, and third, the amazing personalities. One example is the character of Rosa Hubermann. She is cruel and harsh but loving and has amazing self-sacrifice. Mark Zusak has written a book that gives everyone a unique perspective on World War Two, literature, death, love, and hatred, and it will leave readers astounded.

Who:

This book is great for both girls and boys in grade 10 and up with parental guidance because of the violence and language.