The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Book Review

 

Written by Markus Zusak

Published by Random House Children's Books in 2005

ISBN: 978-0375831003

Plot Summary: Death starts out as the narrator of the book and tells the story of how he met Liesel who is the book thief at 3 different times. Liesel is a girl who is riding with her mother and her brother in Nazi Germany when her brother dies. She steals her first book from the gravedigger. Liesel's mother decides that she will be safer with a foster family named Hans and Rosa Hubermann who slowly get Liesel to see herself as a member of the family. Liesel meets a boy named Rudy who becomes a good friend throughout the story. Hans teaches Liesel how to read which sparks her interest in books even more. A child who is a German Jew named Max comes to the Hubermanns for help as his dad had served with Max's dad in the army. He is hidden in the basement while the Nazi's are rounding up the Jews. Liesel steals books from a book burning, from a laundry customer's library who find out and give her a dictionary and thesaurus. Max has to leave the basement but leaves a book that he has written for Liesel about their friendship called the World Shaker. Liesel's town is bombed by the Allies and leaves behind the book that she has written called The Book Thief. Death rescues the book and Max and Liesel are reunited. She lives to an old age and Death shows her the book that she had written many years before that he rescued. 

Critical Analysis: This book is a story about the human condition and how sometimes things that are wrong are done with good intentions as she steals books so that she can learn more about the world around her. The story is written in very explicit detail as the author takes you on a journey to Nazi Germany during World War 2 where everyone is in fear of their lives. The theme of friendship and never giving up shines through the story as well as the theme of caring for those around you even when times are tough and everything looks bleak. This is ultimately a happy story about how things that are terrible at the time can work out for good. 

Review: Kirkus Review

When Death tells a story, you pay attention. Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor. Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)

Connections: Students can learn more about World War 2 and the treatment of the Jews through the Holocaust Museum website. https://www.ushmm.org/

Students can make a connection to other stories that they have read that deal with the themes of death and rebellion and create a Venn Diagram showing how the books are similar and how they are different. 

More Books like The Book Thief 

The Things We Cannot Say: A WWII Historical Fiction Novel by Kelly Rimmer ISBN: 978-1525823565

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti ISBN: 978-0439680141