The Book Thief

 

 Bibliography

Zusak, Markus. (2007). The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN: 9780552779739

Plot Summary

When Death has a story to tell, you listen. 

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living in Nazi Germany in 1939. Death tells her story as she grows to become the book thief. Everything has been taken from her, her mother, her brother and she is forced to start a new life. She is living with her foster mother, who is stern, and a foster father, whom she loves dearly. She learns to read and can not resist a good book. Her life then becomes mixed in with a Jewish man they are hiding in their basement. As the war becomes worse, Liesel lives through the horrors of the Nazi. There are book burnings, air raids, and the persecution of Jews. When stealing books, she finds comfort and courage in the words.

Critical Analysis

Review Excerpts

"Zusak doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five: with grim, darkly consoling humor.”

- Time Magazine

"Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."

- Kirkus Reviews, Starred

"This hefty volume is an achievement...a challenging book in both length

and subject..."

- Publisher's Weekly, Starred

Awards and Recognitions

• 2008 Ena Noel Award

• 2007 Michael L. Printz Honor Book by the Young Adult Library Services Association

• 2006 Kathleen Mitchell Award

• 2006- Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (South East Asia & South Pacific)

• 2006 - Horn Book Fanfare

• 2006 - Kirkus Reviews Editor Choice Award

• 2006 - School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

• 2006 - Daniel Elliott Peace Award

• 2006 - Publishers Weekly Best Children Book of the Year

• 2006 - Booklist Children Editors' Choice

• 2006 - Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book

• 2007 - Boeke Prize

• 2007 - American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults

• 2007 - Book Sense Book of the Year (Indie’s choice)

• 2009 - Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Master List

• Winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Connections

Have students write about something they get comfort from in times of stress. Compare it to Liesel’s comfort of words from books.