The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Set in Nazi Germany on the brink of World War II, The Book Thief shows the life of a simple German family during some of the most violent acts of the twentieth century.  Death narrates the work, weaving in his observations of humanity and Nazi Germany with a great deal of dark humor.  The narration skips around at points, Death giving hints as to what is coming up, and then filling in the details.  Especially in the first ten pages this can be very confusing, but once you get into the flow, it’s an amazing read.

The bulk of the story follows Liesel Meminger who is sent to live with a foster family in Munich.  The Hubermans are a working class couple whose children are grown and moved on.  Mama is acid tongued and hates everyone while Papa is kind-hearted and refuses to join the Nazi Party.  Her new best friend Rudy idolizes Jesse Owens and constantly seeks kisses from Liesel.  Liesel’s foster family takes in a Jewish refugee, Max, assists Liesel’s efforts to learn to read.

The cast of characters are wonderfully drawn.  Each one is given nuances that make them impossible to not like.  Major events in Liesel’s story are marked by her stealing books.  At her brother’s funeral, she steals a book.  At a book burning, she steals a book.  As the story progresses, the importance and power of words is wonderfully shown.  Hitler is waging a war with words, and learning to use words is the only way to fight back.

I am typically not one for historical fiction, but I absolutely loved this book.  It’s dark and depressing, but hopeful as well.  I would recommend it to everyone.  It is marketed as young adult here in the US, but in Australia it was marketed at adults.  I would say for older teens with an interest in the subject, it would be fine, but any younger, the kids may not absorb it all.  Read it.