The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

CITATION: Zusak, M. (2006). The book thief. New York: Knopf
IDENTIFYING #: 9780375831003
CLASSIFICATION: FICTION
GENRE: HISTORICAL FICTION
CALL #: FIC ZUSAK
RECOMMENDED AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: YOUNG ADULT
RATING: 5

Annotation: A young girl living with foster parents in Nazi Germany makes her life more bearable by stealing books.

Summary: Narrated by death, the story opens with the death of Liesl's younger brother. Liesl's mother sends her to stay with foster parents. We don't know where she's going, or why (until later), but she loves her children and has no other choice. Liesl steals her first book from the cemetery where her brother is buried, and learns to read with her foster father, the kindly Hans. Rosa, Liesl's foster mother yells all the time, calls Liesl a "saumensch" (pig) and threatens Liesl with beatings, but she has a good heart and takes good care of her. This ordinary couple is capable of extraordinary things though. They care for Liesl, although times are hard and they often don't have enough food, and although they are afraid to do it, they risk their lives to hide a Jewish man in their basement. Although the book seems very grim, with Death as the narrator and all, and the backdrop of WWII and the Holocaust, parts of it are surprisingly hilarious. Liesl's misadventures in school and her antics with her friend, Rudy, who uses every misfortune to ask Liesl for a kiss will have you rolling.

Notes: If you can handle a long book, and you like books like The Diary of Anne Frank, this book is a great read. It gets off to a slow start, but once Liesl arrives at her foster home, and the characters are introduced, you're hooked.