Book Review of The Book Thief

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Zusak, Marcus. THE BOOK THIEF. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. ISBN 9780375831003.

 

PLOT SUMMARY

Liesel is adopted by a German couple. They raise her in a medium-size town during World War II. She, her family, and friends live through increasingly difficult times as the war goes badly for Germany. Her best friend is Rudy. Together they have many adventures together. At great risk to themselves, Liesel’s family takes in a young Jewish man who is hiding from the German authorities. The man eventually leaves them to protect them from possible repercussions from the authorities. After that Liesel’s street is bombed by the allies, and her mother, father, and best friend are killed. At the end of her life, she is living in Sydney, Australia where she passes away from old age.

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The accuracy and authenticity of the events fictionalized in this novel cannot be disputed. We’ve seen and read innumerable accounts of Nazi atrocities written from the point of view of Jews and other victims. What sets this novel apart is that it shows the impact of the Nazi years from the viewpoint of a German girl and her family, friends, and associates. Rarely have the attitudes and behaviors of non-Nazi Germans of the time been shared with such unflinching honesty. The events detailed in the novel are plausible, and the dialogue is unsparing. The insults hurled are especially evocative of working-class lower-income German culture. I spent the first nine-tenths of the novel generally unmoved, as the dispassionate narrator, Death, tells the story of Liesel and others of her time. However, I was moved to tears by the ending. This must be one mark of a great novel, the ability to weave a story together that tricks the reader into thinking that it is just another novel, but then delivering a staggering emotional ending that forces the reader to see the book in a deeper, intensely personal way. This novel will inspire an examination of one’s own life, our relationships to others, the mortality of our family and friends, and our own personal, individual mortality.   

 

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

2006 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

2006 National Jewish Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature

2007 Michael L. Printz Honor Book

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL starred review: “An extraordinary narrative.”

KIRKUS starred review: “Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."

CONNECTIONS

* This book could be part of any discussion on World War II, the Holocaust, genocide, mortality, and the human condition.

* Other books related to this one:

Hosseini, Khaled. THE KITE RUNNER. ISBN 9781594631931.

Frank, Anne. THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL. ISBN 9780307594006.

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