The Book Thief

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak

103 ratings 112 reviews 164 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 9 - 12Grades 3 - 6Z+5.1118933

The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.

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

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

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

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780385754729
ISBN-10: 0385754728
Published on 10/15/2013
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 576

Book Reviews (108)

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This book takes place during WWII in Germany, around the time Hitler was in power. What's interesting about this book is that the narrator is death. They portray death as having thoughts and feelings. The main characters include, Liesel, Rudy, Mama, Papa, and Max. All of these charters are extremely important to Liesel considering her brother past away and her mother is nowhere to be found. Overall, I think this book is great for anyone who loves a little bit of mystery and action. I really enjoyed this book.

This book is really brilliantly written and it's so unique. Sure there are a lot of books about the Holocaust and WWII, but I'm sure that there are few that are written from Death's point of view. In this book Death is portrayed as a person with feelings and emotions. The author made everyone seem relatable and have realistic personalities with flaws. I loved how Rudy and Liesel relied on each other and the adventures they went on (they were partners-in-crime in stealing). Rudy was outspoken and was a dreamer and often did stuff without thinking about it, but that just made him more realistic and credible. However I really disliked the part where Himmel Street was bombed, because it was just a tragedy and made me feel quite sad to see all the characters come all this way just to be killed. I still recommend this book though, it's really worth the read and has a good message we all need to discover: Books can save your life, literally.

The main character was Liesel and I think that the story portrayed her very well, they made her seem real and have a personality. Liesel and Rudy went on many adventures, they stole books from the mayors house, they stole apples from a farm and they stole many different things. I really like Rudy as a character because I think that he was really funny and he had big dreams and he wasn't afraid to tell people about it. I really didn't like the part where the Allies bombed Himmel Street and all of Liesel's friends and family died, Hans, Rosa, Rudy, Frau Holtzapfel all died. I would really recommend this book to everyone, it makes you feel the emotions the characters are feeling and it makes you think about what message the book wants to convey;

This is a great book. Read it last year and I still think about it. It is a new way of telling a period of time that has affected many.

This book is breathtaking. It is written out of an unusual point of view, is terribly sad,true, funny, and all in all wonderful. I enjoyed reading this book. It will always be one of my favorites

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!! If anybody has read about the Holocaust or is interested in it, this would probably be one of the good places to start. It really gets deep in emotion but keeps you enticed. You really want to keep reading because you're reading about this girl who goes through this passion of wanting to read but just can't without stealing. I think this is a really important part because where we are and what we do is such an amazing privilege that we take for granted. We can literally have more than ten books at arms reach at any given point yet we choose to ignore it. This is really teaching me a lesson of life's struggles, education, yearn for something, and just how lucky we are.

I read this book because my best friend read it and liked it. It was kind of sad that they were burning books.

buble buble

This book was amazing!!!!!!!! It is written by Death's POV and it's about a young foster female child during WWII in Nazi Germany. It is one of the saddest books I've ever read. Due to the context, I would recommend this book for middle school and high school. Markus Zusak is now one of my favorite authors. I cried after I read it.

Narrated by Death himself, this look at the Holocaust and the price it forced people to pay is unique and a great piece of literature.

The Book Thief is a story that I will carry forever. It is written from the point of view of Death about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. I appreciated this fresh POV because I've only ever read stories about this time period through the view of Jewish people. It helped expand my knowledge of this time period, all while tearing my heart to pieces with an emotional and powerful story where you will undoubtedly connect deeply with the characters.

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