The Book Thief

An interesting take on the Holocaust, with Death taking a staring and sympathetic role. A young girl without family is taken in by a couple who become her only mother and father. Her interactions with the children of the town and its adults, especially the mayor's wife, shows a maturity beyond her years.

She arrives at her new home with a book about grave digging that she has retrieved from the cemetery where her brother was buried. Not being able to read the book her new father teaches her to read. This occurs nightly when she awakens after having nightmares and he spends the nights in her room to comfort her.

The horror of the Holocaust becomes real when a young Jewish man comes to their house to hide. The two become friends and reading and writing becomes integral to both of them as they seek some sense out of the disaster happening around them.

Over time she pilfers more books, most of all from the Mayor's library with the tacit approval of his wife, who suffers from the death of her son in the previous war.

The book offers a somewhat sympathetic portrayal of German townspeople caught up in the war and the extermination of the Jews. Some, including her father, are sickened by what they see and try to help but are ostracized and sent to fight in the war. Others caught up in the government propaganda against the Jews show how easy it is to debase their own humanity.

I do recommend the book, it's written for the young adult audience but older readers would find much to value in it as well.

This book is awesome. The author used a unique style to tell the story that I found very enjoyable. He has a beautiful command of the language. The story is fascinating, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and insightful. It's good choice for a book club and for teenagers.

Allan Corduner is a masterful storyteller in his narration of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.

Our family (children seventeen down to ten years old) listened with complete attention through eleven CDs! The story is sometimes very sad and somewhat graphic, it is after all World War II in Nazi Germany.

It is a sad beginning as Leisel and her brother are sent to live with a foster family and Leisel's brother dies on the way. Leisel's relationship with her foster parents is beautiful. Her relationship with Max is poignant. And her relationship with Rudy is touching.

Leisel is the book thief and it is a must read. I do however, HIGHLY reccommend Allan Corduner's narration.

Although I originally purchased this book to challenge some of my middle school students, it took me three months to get a copy into my classroom. After I read it twice, I passed it to a friend. It was taking too long to make the circuit, so I bought another to take to class, but offered it to a fellow teacher on the way in to the building. You can see where this is going, right? After purchasing three copies, I finally landed one in the classroom- for one class period. Then it was gone, making the circuit of the kids. As far as I have been able to determine, the 26 or 27 people I've loaned it to have all read it completely, most have read it completely twice, and all have found it well worth their time. The audience has ranged from 13 year old football stars to retirees, with clergy, and a few teachers, and a lawyer in between. This is for anyone who reads books, deeply or superficially. Get one, or, better yet, two.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak a beautiful, that story is interesting and will not let go of the readers attention while the writing style is great. Everything in book, though it may not make sense in the beginning, ties together in the end. The Book Thief is about a girl who lives in Germany during the Second World War. Her mother has left her with foster parents to keep her safe because her mother could not support her. The book's main focus is on the girl and how she learns to manage life in a lower middle class foster home. The girl has a love of books, which she cannot afford, so she feels in order to get them she has to steal them. What I found very interesting about this book was how it was narrated by a character named `Death', who remains very mysterious throughout the entire book. Leisel, the main character, never actually meets the narrator or knows anything about him. I found the fact that the writer did not tell the reader who `Death' is spectacular because it left it to my imagination who this `Death' person is and why he is telling me this story about a girl who lives in Germany during the Second World War. Granted, no book is perfect and there are some irregularities in this book such as Leisel never actually steals any books until a good few hundred pages into the book. Also there is a bit of foreshadowing around the middle of the book, but this is never tied up at the end. That's not to say that I didn't love this book. The book has major strength's, such as ensuring the reader never wants to read another book, because no book will come close in comparison. I hated putting this book down. Every time I put this book down, it was as if I had stopped eating something delicious. I just craved more, but I knew I needed to get my rest. For teachers who need a good World War II book for their classes, I would recommend this. This book gives the reader the war from an `at home' experience through the eyes of a teenager. This book is great any time, of the year, I would HIGHLY recommend it.
P.S. I'm using a Family acc. I am actually a guy.

~Shlomo