Liesel, a young girl growing up on the outskirts of Munich, helps her foster parents hide a Jewish man in their basement.

You've heard a lot of good things about this book, and they're true. Every one of 'em.

It's tempting, I think, to consider any Holocaust-related book as yet another story about how terrible the Nazis were, but THE BOOK THIEF is a great deal more than that. It's about regular Germans who are caught in the middle and have formed their own conclusions about what's going on around them. It's beautiful and brutal, and it is most definitely worth your time.

*** AND NOW, A WARNING ***
THE BOOK THIEF may be marketed
as YA in Canada and the US, but
don't think that means Zusak is
gonna pull his punches.
He isn't.

Death narrates the story, and he's blunt behind his fancy language. He doesn't try to shield us; he's frank about the horrors of war and the depredations of humanity, and he doesn't stint on the spoilers. We quickly learn who does or doesn't make it through to the end.

But for all that, it's not an overly depressing story. I mean, it is depressing, but there's so much hope and so much beauty that the sorrow never becomes overwhelming. Liesel and her friends are enmeshed in a difficult situation, and parts of their story had me in tears, but Zusak never lets the reader lose sight of the people at the heart of the drama. This is their story; it's about what they refuse to let go of, no matter how bad things get. He shows us the little bits and pieces that make up their lives, and there are far more kind moments than cruel ones. Papas teach their new daughters to roll cigarettes. Mamas show their love with gruff insults. Grieving women reach out in surprising ways.

That's not to say that the cruel moments weigh little. They don't. They are brutal. Every time I started to get complacent, every time I started to think that maybe everything was going to be all right after all, Zusak bashed me so hard I was in tears before I knew it. Even though Death tells you straight out what's gonna go down, I never believed him. I couldn't believe him. He was lying for the sake of narrative effect, and that was that. And I'll tell you, it's brilliantly done. The kindness and the cruelty exist alongside one another, just as they do in real life, and you let the narrator trick you because you'd collapse in on yourself if you didn't.

I also appreciated the book's structure. I found it cinematic in feel; it's composed of many small scenes and recollections that effectively act as jolts, forcing us to shift our focus and reevaluate the story at every turn. I found the structure quite effective. It drew me in and forced me to evaluate everything for myself. I couldn't read it quickly, but neither could I tear myself away. I became so immersed in it that I found myself thinking in the book's style.

*** MEMORY THINKS IN STRANGE WAYS ***
When she reads lots of graphic novels,
she thinks in word bubbles.
Now that she's finished THE BOOK THIEF,
she's thinking in big bold blocks.

(Be thankful that I didn't write the whole review in said big bold blocks. I was mighty tempted).

And on top of all that, we've got scads about books and literacy and the power of the word. You'd better believe I was all over that.

So it's true, what you've heard. This isn't a pleasant book, but it's a worthwhile one in which kindness and love run alongside the cruelty of war. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you do so.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

The image of death dancing on the spine of the book intrigued me immediately, but it took me many months to finally buy and read this book. The style of the first few pages was novel, partly because they were narrated by death, and partly because the words were presented in some odd ways, but I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to read 550 pages in such an odd style. After all, ‘different’ doesn’t necessarily imply ‘good to read’. Finally, I spotted it on a shelf in a charity shop and read the first few chapters without stopping. I couldn’t resist it anymore, but would I regret the impulsive purchase?

Style

Unusually, I want to discuss the style of the book first, as I think it is quite original and may discourage some potential readers.

Death organises the book thief’s story into a narrative that contains additional facts, theories and announcements under subheadings. He also makes use of bullet points as he introduces some of the key features of the story ahead. This sounds very artificial, but gives the reader a chance to reflect at key points and often allows for a slightly different perspective on things. Although they are not always equally useful or insightful, this is a feature that I soon became used to and it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Similarly, the whole story is organised into a prologue and ten sections, each of which is introduced with a series of points that will be covered. Again, this sounds very artificial and perhaps too revealing, but in fact the points are so brief as to be highly intriguing. For example, part one covers (or “features”) “himmel street – the art of saumensching – an iron-fisted woman – a kiss attempt – jesse owens – sandpaper – the smell of friendship – a heavyweight champion – and the mother of all watschens”. Organising the sections of the story this way made me interested in what was coming up and I never found it too revealing.

Death does hint at what will happen and he often mentions that a character will die many chapters before they actually do. In a way, this allowed me to acclimatise myself to the upcoming loss and to anticipate how it would occur. I think that some readers might find this slightly irritating, but the focus in this novel is on story telling, rather than on developing a mystery. It is story telling that seems to help the characters survive, including the narrator.

In keeping with this intention, the language is often highly evocative. One example early on is: “The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked among the redness.” This is the aspect of the book I enjoyed the most, although sometimes the similes seemed a little stretched. Everything was painted so vividly that the setting really came to life for me.

Finally, the text can appear quite stilted. There are some very short paragraphs and many one sentence paragraphs in the prologue, and these recur to a lesser extent through the book. These slow the pace right down and encourage the reader to absorb the moments the characters are experiencing. Again, although this might initially appear off-putting, I found it helped me to digest scenes of great emotional impact.

Not content to rely on the main story, Zusak also includes the pictures and stories that the characters tell each other. I have to say that I skimmed these sections and really didn’t find that they added anything much to be book, but I don’t think that they were particularly off-putting. It just meant that those few pages of the book flew by and I was less daunted by the size of the rest of it!

By now you’ve either given up reading or are dying to know the plot, so here goes.

Plot and characters

Leisel Meminger is a highly sympathetic character from the moment of her introduction. Death meets her for the first time as he takes away her brother, dead from a cough on an impatient railway line. As if this isn’t horrible enough, Leisel’s mother is taking her away to be adopted by another family (I have to say that I never understood why she was doing this – comments enlightening me regarding this would be welcomed!).

Although Leisel initially won’t get out of the car, she is soon an important part of Himmel Street. Her new mama is strict, but her papa begins to teach her to read and soon Leisel is eager for something other than her copy of ‘The Gravedigger’s Handbook’. Words become her salvation, although she also recognises their power to do ill as Nazi Germany grows more threatening around her.

As her story progresses, we learn more about the characters surrounding her: cheeky Rudy, the best friend who always requests a kiss for his efforts (although he never gets one); rude Frau Holtzapfel, the neighbour who always spits on the Hubermann’s front door; Max, the Jew who trekked many, many miles to hide in a basement and fight the Fuhrer in his dreams; the Mayor’s wife, who can’t move on following the death of her son.

Each character is convincing, even if their dominant characteristics seem slightly exaggerated, and their interactions are often highly charged with meaning. The narrator clearly holds their lives dear, despite his frequent references to their eventual fate. I enjoyed reading about the various characters and seeing how they responded as events became tougher. Often the changes in circumstance were sad, but the almost poetic style of the writing made the story easy to read.

The storyline meanders through some years in Leisel’s life, loosely structured by Death’s meetings with her and the incidents of book thievery. Gradually, the net tightens around the family and the Nazi threat seems to loom ever closer. Normally I’d include a few cliffhangery questions at this point, but the style of the novel means that these don’t feel appropriate. Suffice it to say that, despite the slightly weaving path of the story, there is a clear cut ending, which I liked (I hate ambiguous endings where there are lots of possibilities; surely it’s the author’s job to finish the tale, not mine?!)

One aspect I found particularly interesting was the idea of approaching Nazi Germany through the perspective of Death and two children. Death is a bit concerned by the extra workload. The children are alternatively hyper-aware of the need to behave appropriately or completely distracted by the day to day realities of their situation (Rudy wishes Leisel would steal food instead of books). The sense of threat seemed particularly real after The Jew arrives and has to be sheltered, but the pervasive nature of the Nazi culture comes across clearly throughout. Having read so many books looking at the war from a soldier’s perspective, I found this highly interesting.

Final thoughts

Although I was initially concerned about the style, I found the often poetic and reflective nature of it absorbing and easy to read as I followed Leisel’s history. The length of the book turned out not to be a problem either: I devoured it in a week. I felt that ‘finding out what would happen next’ was sometimes a powerful drive, whenever the tension was heightened, but that more often I kept reading simply because I was enjoying the way the story was told.

To me, a good book is one that makes you think about it after you’ve closed the pages, and this is perhaps the one area in which ‘The Book Thief’ falls down. I enjoyed reading it and I’d happily recommend it to others, but I don’t feel that it will stick in the mind particularly; somehow, it doesn’t have the raw power that certain stories possess. Of course, this is my personal feeling, and others may find differently, but I suspect that ultimately the way the story is told makes it rather dream like and ephemeral, and dreams have a tendency to slip away once you wake up. ( )

I wanted to love it like I loved Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but I didn't. I liked it, but didn't fall in love with it. ( )

Kristin Cashore mentioned this on her blog:http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/20...

One of the most wonderful and enjoyable books I have every read. It can be entered by all four of Nancy Pearls doors. ( )

This was the worst book I have read in a long time. It was so boring and dull I couldn't even finish it. ( )

This book takes a look at World War II from a different angle, a street in a small town near Munich where a Jew is hidden from the Nazis. Liesel, Hans, and Rudy are well drawn characters. ( )

A great book - as someone who feels overexposed to stories from and about Nazi Germany, this was different. Wonderful for anyone, any age - particularly if they love the written word. ( )

Marvelous. This book lifts you up and crushes you at the same time. I can't wait to give it away - just to have someone share the experience. ( )

The Book Thief is an excellent book. I read the book in a week and I just didn't want to stop reading. The story is well executed and written. I read this book for a book club I just joined and was thrilled to finally have the chance to buy the book and read it.

As I read the story I found myself getting more and more drawn into the characters and their interactions with everything going on around them. The story is about a girl named Liesel who steals a book and discovers the power of the written word. I was drawn to the fact that she did not know how to read very well at first and yet she was very eager to learn.

The setting takes place in Germany during Hitler's reign. A young girl of 12 years is given to a foster home because her mother can not take care of her anymore. On the way to the new foster home her brother dies on the train and sets the stage for her to steal her first book. At first Liesel isn't happy about moving to a new home and having new parents. The Hubbermann's are her mama and papa. Mrs. Hubbermann is a very unique character and I actually started to like her as I read the book. Mr. Hubbermann is a fantastic papa to Liesel. All three have a wonderful relationship that changes and grows throughout the book.

I found myself crying as I read the last part of the book. When I was reading the book I knew I would shed a tear or two, I shed more then that. I had tears of sorrow and joy as I read The Book Thief. I highly recommend The Book Thief and encourage you to pick up a copy and take the time to read the story. ( )

One of the best books I've read in years. It tells the story of Liesel, a young girl living in Germany during WWII, from the perspective of death. ( )

Not a fast read, but worth the effort! If this were true, it would be right up there with "The Diary of Anne Frank". Read this and think! Words are powerful! ( )

Wonderful book, even better as an audiobook because the narrator is excellent. ( )

Set in Nazi Germany from 1939 until 1945, the book tells the story of a young girl who, through tragedy, discovers the "beauty and brutality" of words (quote comes from the novel).

Some reasons to read this book:

1. Character development: There is no better era in history for creating villainous, one-dimensional people than Nazi Germany. Zusak avoids that trap; he creates a cast of characters who feel real in their combination of kindness, pettiness, selfishness, and bravery. Bigotry, classism, and violence are all central themes of the book -- yet he never makes a big deal of these issues. The characters always come first.

2. Point of view: Zusak's use of Death as the narrator was a stroke of genius. I loved reading the author Q&A in the back of the book; he admitted that his first attempt at writing from Death's p.o.v. failed. He had to come back to it six months later. Somehow, that was both inspiring and a wake-up call to me.

3. Story development: Though the story is told mostly in a chronological fashion, there are non-linear aspects of the development that intrigued me. Death's ability to be in multiple places and times at once, as well as his unique perspective on war, made what could have been "just another WWII story" into something fresh (to me, at least).

This was a great book. I highly recommend it! ( )

What a wonderful story! Liesel and the other characters were wonderfully brought to life. I loved that this story is told from Death's perspective and centered around Germans that were not necessarily Nazi's.
Some of my favorite parts of the book was where Max's stories for Liesel were shared.
Definitely a story that will stay with you after you finish reading it. ( )

Zusak, Markus. Book thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Themes: Young Adult, World War II, Germany, Nazi, Orphans, Jews, Holocaust.

Awards:

Ena Noel Award (2006)

A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (2006)

Kathleen Mitchell Award (2006)

ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2007)

Book Sense Book of the Year (2007.4|Children's Literature Winner, 2007)

Michael L. Printz Honor Book (2007)

Sydney Taylor Book Award (2007)

Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (2007)

BCCB Blue Ribbon Book (2006)

Whitcoulls top 100, 2008 (81)

ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2009.04|Death and Dying, 2009)

ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (2009.3|Literature & Language Arts, 2009)

Censorship Issues:

• Racism
• Child Starvation?



Plot Summary:

The Book Thief chronicles the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl whose mother places her for adoption at the beginning of the Second World War. During the trip to be placed in foster care, Liesel’s infant brother dies and she steals her first book from the grave diggers who bury her brother. She is placed in foster care with her two foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Hans is a painter who moonlights as an accordion player at night and Rosa supplements the family income by doing laundry for the town’s wealthier citizens. The backdrop is Nazi Germany and the effects of the war are being felt by all German citizens. As Hans loses work, for not immediately joining the Nazi party, and Rosa begins to lose jobs due to the economic crunch, the family bonds together. During this period, Hans begins to teach Liesel to read; they begin with the stolen book, which turns out to be "The Gravedigger's Handbook.”
It is revealed that Hans was in the First World War, and his life was saved by a man who died. Following the war, Hans tells the man’s family that he will take care of them if they ever need him. Once the war starts, the man’s son, Max, is smuggled into the Hubermann’s house. The book progresses through the war, as narrated by Death. The Story culminates as the war enters the Hubermann’s town.

Critique:

The book is well conceived and written. The unique perspective provided by using Death as the Narrator, is both interesting and thought provoking. Teens (and adults) are forced to examine the dichotomy of life for the average German child; the carefree joys of childhood coexisting with the horrors of war. Zusak does an excellent job of taking a story and an issue that has been examined for years and presents it in a new youthful manner.

Curriculum Uses:

The most obvious curriculum use is for any history unit dealing with World War II, but the novel also has merit as an examination of racism and poverty. The character of Leisel is compelled to overcome so many obstacles in her lifetime that she is a study in dealing with situations which seem overwhelming. ( )

If I could rate this book ten stars, I would. So well written. One of my favorite books. ( )

Young adults and adults will be moved by this story. The voices in the book are so real you can feel them. Recommend for everyone. Period. ( )

Very different from the usual Holocaust novel. Delicious language and symbolism. Unusual narrator. Very moving. 5+ stars - my favourite book yet! ( )

Set in Germany during WWII, "The Book Thief" tells the story of orphan Liesel Meminger, life with her foster parents, and her love for books. It is narrated by Death, whose character comes across as strangely human as he relates his encounters with the human race in general and Liesel in particular.

Death meets Liesel for the first time as she travels by train with her mother and younger brother to the town of Molching, near Munich. Her brother dies on the journey, prompting Liesel and her mother to disembark to bury the small boy, and it is at his gravesite that Liesel steals her first book, "The Gravedigger's Handbook".
She settles into her new life, doing household chores for her foster-mother Rosa, being taught how to read by her foster-father Hans, stealing food with her friend Rudy, and visiting her Jewish friend Max, hidden in the basement. All of Liesels activities are framed in the context of Nazi Germany as the regime struggles to maintain its war machine, indoctrinating the young men into Hitler Youth, sending all eligible males to the battlefront, and reducing rations for those left behind.

Although the story moves a little slowly at times and is occasionally confusing when it jumps around in time, overall it is a good read. As it approached the end and the various threads of the story came together, I couldn't put it down.

Markus Zusak is the Australian son of German immigrant parents and he grew up hearing stories of life in Nazi Germany. "The Book Thief" has won several awards, including the 2008 Ena Noel Encouragement Award for Children's Literature and the 2006 Kathleen Mitchell Award, and was named a 2007 Michael L. Printz Honor book by the Young Adult Library Services Association. ( )

a book meant for youthful readers but great for all ages. Although the books message has been told many times before it's my 1st time hearing death tell the story of Hitler's victims. The Book Thief is worth reading and owning . ( )

I heard about this from numerous friends and BookCrossers who loved it. I was not disappointed. Death narrates this tale of WWII Germany about a young girl, her foster parents, neighors, stolen books, and a certain Jew. The characters are all quite memorable (my favorite was Rudy) and the unique narrator choice lends an interesting twist to the storytelling. The metaphors in particular are fantastic. There were times when I laughed and times when I cried, but ultimately the ending is quite satisfying. I'll definitely have to pick up Zusak's other works. ( )

Death narrates the story of Liesel Meminger, AKA the book thief. Death first encounters Liesel when her younger brother dies while they are on the way to live with foster parents. Liesel steals her first book, The Gravedigger's Handbook, at her brother's funeral (even though she can't read). Her foster father, Hans, uses the book to teach Liesel to read.

The Book Thief is set during the Holocaust, so Death is definitely feeling overworked. Liesel steals more books and forms close relationships with the people around her, especially Max, a Jew hiding in her basement, and Rudy, a blond boy who admires Jesse Owens.

Death jumps around and interrupts himself, which makes the beginning of the book quite confusing. However, this book is absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking and a must-read for older teens and adults. ( )

Death is the narrator. Slow start, but once you're in you can't put it down. ( )

Reviewed by Francisca Goldsmith in School Library Journal (March 1, 2006). Found in Follett Titlewave.