Circa: 2005
Condition: like new
Publisher: schibner
Author: Anita Diamant
Detailed item info
Synopsis
Books, war, love, and mind-blowing sadness spin together in this compelling and complex young-adult novel set during WWII in Germany. Death, a dour, sarcastic figure, chronicles the distressing, tumultuous life of young Liesel Meminger, a foster child in a poverty-stricken neighborhood. At the age of nine, the practically orphaned Liesel is sent to the Hubbermans just outside of Munich, where she is taught to read by her kindly foster father and given tough love by Rosa, his wife. The little girl's obsession with books becomes a consuming passion fueled by some life-changing thievery. Along with Liesel's joys and sorrows, and Death's observations on them, are the stories of Liesel's best friend, Rudy, and a young Jewish man hidden by the family. This stunning novel is a testament to the never-ending horrors of war in a gripping, highly original story. A 2007 Printz Honor recipient, 2006 Publishers Weekly Book of the Year, and a Kirkus Best Children's Book of 2006.
Details
Series: Readers Circle
Size
Length: 552 pages
Height: 8 in.
Width: 5.3 in.
Thickness: 1.2 in.
Weight: 14.4 oz.
Publisher's Note
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel 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 before he is marched to Dachau.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.
From the Hardcover edition.
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
Industry reviews
"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."
Kirkus (01/15/2006)
"This hefty volume is an achievement...It's a measure of how successfully Zusak has humanized these characters that even though we know they are doomed, it's no less devastating when Death finally reaches them."
Publishers Weekly (01/30/2006)
"[B]rilliant and hugely ambitious...[T]he kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, THE BOOK THIEF offers us a believable, hard-won hope. That hope is embodied in Liesel, who grows into a good and generous person despite the suffering all around her...."
(05/14/2006)
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