Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Zusak, M. (2006). The book thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
ISBN-10 0375842209
ISBN-13 978-0375842207
552 pgs
Format: Book
Genre: War/Conflict
Classification: Fiction
Age level: Age 12 and up

Reader's annotation
In this inventive novel, death serves as a narrator and takes a special interest in the life of a German girl named Liesel, despite being tremendously busy during the second World War.

Summary
Death narrates this story of an eleven-year-old German girl named Liesel, a Jew living in Germany during World War II. Her brother died in her arms and her mother abandoned her. Later she was taken in as a foster child by an older couple, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. She works for her tough, laundress foster mother, and bonds with her kind, accordion-playing foster father. Death pays some careful attention to her days, activities and loves, as he can’t help but leave his mark on her life.

Notes
The Book Thief is a somber but tender novel that finds a way to describe the Holocaust while still maintaining a sense of humanity.

Awards and honors
Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award
National Jewish Book Award
Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature

Also by Markus Zusak
I Am the Messenger

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