The Book Thief by Markus Zusak [book]

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak [book] 

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 2006
Language: English
Paperback: 576 pages
ISBN: 0375842209

Plot Summary:
Liesel is a nine year old girl in the middle of WWII starting off in the novel, being taken to a foster family in Germany in order to escape her parents' communist ties. She steals her first book at her brother's funeral during the trip and is then left with a couple who take her in. The man is named Hans and he teaches Liesel to read and stays by her side at night; he is her protection and her teacher. The woman is named Rosa and she does laundry for a living, using Liesel to help her with collecting and distributing the clothes. During this time she learns and makes few friends, Rudy being one of them- a young boy that is constantly teasing her and asking for kisses. In the beginning of the novel Death is telling the story, but as Liesel continues to learn and grow she takes over narration of the story. As the story unfolds, they harbor a Jewish man
in the basement that is eventually taken away, there are two separate incidents in which there are Jewish parades in the streets and Hans and Liesel are whipped for their compassion for them, and they endure bombings and the ever increasing Nazi presence.
During these incidents Liesel steals books from a book burning fire, and from the library of a woman that she builds a tenuous relationship with through books. In the end nearly everyone that she is close to dies in a bombing while she is the basement writing. Hans, Rosie, and Rudy are all gone and in a final act Liesel kisses Rudy. She is then taken away and the woman that has the library takes her in, and Death starts his narration again. She spends time with Rudy's father and eventually she meets again with the man that they harbored in the basement. The story ends when Liesel is old and Death comes to collect her from her large family. They walk and talk before he takes her while it asks her about her life and humans, to which his final thought is that they haunt him.

Critical Evaluation:
"I am haunted by humans" said by death to Liesel is a profound line in this book that describes the narration changes between death and Liesel. The idea that death narrates part of the novel in a WWII story line was very well crafted. Then later in the novel when Liesel takes over, due to her education, you are able to get a better sense of her character. The tiny parallel story her friend always trying to steal kisses from her is so heartbreaking because when she finally does it is too late; describing this time period in which nothing was set and stable but rather fleeting. The best theme in the novel of learning to read and understanding the devistation of the people in the area as well as seeing books being taken as you are learning to love them is in great relation to the destruction of the area and the Jewish people. The writing was done well and the characters were very in depth and powerful.

Reader's Annotation:
During World War II Liesel is 9 and steals her first book, after she is placed with a foster family she learns to read and conitnues to make friends, she secretly steals books and learns about people and injustices that surround her in this time period.

Websites to look Into:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/

The Author:
Markus Zusak is an Australian author that grew up hearing stories about Nazi Germany, and decided that he needed to write about it.

Awards:
Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, 2006
Horn Book Fanfare, 2006
Kirkus Reviews Editor Choice Award, 2006
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 2006
Daniel Elliott Peace Award, 2006
Publishers Weekly Best Children Book of the Year, 2006
Booklist Children Editors' Choice, 2006
ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007
Book Sense Book of the Year, 2007
Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Master List, 2009
Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2007

Similar Books:
"I am the Messenger" by MarKus Zusak
Booktalking Ideas:
A World War II discussion, with other WWII books
Talk about the importance of books in society

Genre:
Historical Fiction

Interest Age:
16+

Challenge Issues:
War and Death
This book deals with the death of family members and the Nazi regime in Germany. It is hard to read about but I would combat this with the fact that it happened in history and that people should be aware of it and its tragedies.

Why this Book?
This book has won many awards and is an exceptional book to read for young adults about how books can mean so much to people. I think that it should definitely be included in a collection because it tells an important story of joys in hard times.