Published in 2006 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
5 Stars
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Review: The Book Thief is a beautiful and unique novel about one of the most horrible times in human history. It is a brilliantly constructed look at how the Nazi party controlled all of the citizens of Germany through fear and intimidation and the lives of citizens who dared fight back. This book does more than describe the atrocity of the concentration camps and the crimes against the Jewish people; it shows the compassion and courage of the people willing to save them.
The characters are presented in a way that allows the reader to understand their actions and motives and connect with them on a deep emotional level. The characters are tangible, their emotions wonderfully described, making them believable and relatable to the reader. The use of death as an omnipresent narrator weary of the crimes humans continually commit against each other is a wonderful balance between exasperation at humanity's need to repeat the mistakes of their fathers and admiration of compassion that can be shown toward people who are truly in need. Death tells the story sprinkled with humor and a sense of wonder that humanity can still surprise him with its rare bouts of selfless goodness.
This book is not light and easy fare. It is heavy material about the need for people to stand up for what they know is right, even if it means facing foes much more power and control. You as the reader will grow to love the characters for which they are, the mistakes they make, and the dreams they have. The Book Thief does an excellent job of presenting the German people as individuals with their own opinions on morality who were fighting personal battles against tyranny and oppression. These are people just like the reader, not the single minded evil entity in which many other World War II stories seem to lump the entire German community.
Overall The Book Thief is an emotional account of how World War II affected everyone in the world through the one entity that connects us all, death.
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