The Book Thief Will Steal Your Heart
Every once in a while, you read a book that you just can’t put down. The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, is one such book. Narrated by Death, this is a WWII story of Liesel Meminger, an illiterate nine year old who arrives in Molching Germany to live with foster parents. She has just stolen her first book, The Gravediggers Handbook, at the funeral of her younger brother.
To quell Liesel’s nightmares, her foster father begins to read to her and thus begins a saga of love and learning that transports the reader. Throughout the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel continues to steal books and while developing a variety of friendships with a host of peculiar people (including a Jewish refugee who her foster parents hide in their basement.) This is an incredible story written by a young author who has an extraordinary way with words.
About the author: Pat Bates is an advisory committee member for the Maryland Center for the Book. She has spearheaded the development of the hugely successful, national reading and discussion program, “Let’s Talk About It”.
Tags: good books, Marcus Zusak, Maryland Center for the Book, Pat Bates, The Book Thief, WWII
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:08 pm
To me, this book is actually a 500 page long poem. I have seldom seen a better use of imagery–metaphor and simile. I looked up the author fully expecting to find out that he was a poet as well as a novelist. But that this was not the case. What a wonderful use of language. Even if the story were not riveting and meaningful, the language alone is reason enough to read this book.