The Book Thief

Paperback, 564 pages

English language

Published Jan. 2, 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN:
978-0-385-75472-9
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OCLC Number:
869914071

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(2 reviews)

It is 1939 Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time. …

42 editions

A coming-of-age Holocaust book I actually love

Zusak got me to enjoy reading about two things that normally leave me cold - coming-of-age stories and the Holocaust. For the former, I'm just not usually interested in reading about 12-year-old girls figuring out life. For the latter, I think the horrific, undeniably evil acts performed during the Holocaust can make it too easy to manipulate the reader's emotions.

But Zusak pulls it off, mostly through some amazing writing. I am not sure why this is categorized as a "Young Adult" novel, as it is full of big themes and awful, wonderful, acts. And every page had its share of lyrical passages that were just too numerous for me to keep writing down.

The Book Thief is about Liesel Meminger, a foster child living in a suburb of Munich during World War 2. Death is very busy but finds time to tell the story (yes, it is written from …

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