THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

Although it is listed as a young adult novel, THE BOOK THIEF is a story that both teens and adults will find captivating and heartbreaking.

Using Death as his narrator, Zusak crafts an emotionally charged story about life in Germany for a simple teenage girl, Liesel, during the Nazi regime. Before the war even begins, Liesel experiences much tragedy in her life. She watches her brother die on a train and her mother leaves her with foster parents. She endures nightmares about her brother every single night, and has only one connection to him – a book she found at his grave site.

Liesel’s character development is a huge part of THE BOOK THIEF. The reader knows she is not completely innocent, but at ten years old she is naive about the atrocities of war. As she becomes older she begins to understand the power of words, especially during Hitler’s messages of hate, and the importance of books. She has a compulsion to steal books when she has the chance, and reads them each numerous times.

Liesel is able to see both sides of the war after her foster parents rescue a Jew named Max, and the two of them grow close. He writes her a book titled “The Standover Man” with powerful illustrations depicting two children standing, holding hands, on top of a massive pile of dead bodies. Through Max, Liesel questions why Jews are treated so badly and ponders Max’s fate as well as her own as they live in fear he will be discovered.

THE BOOK THIEF is written in a prose like style. Instead of lengthy character descriptions, there are small poems about unique characteristics of each person. The characters are more memorable this way, because each has their own quirks.

Zusak sprinkles the text with frequent colour metaphors relating to the sky, Liesel’s father’s eyes, and the war. There is also a metaphor about Liesel’s street. She lives on Himmel Street which means Heaven, but it is far from heaven.

As an omniscient narrator, Death is a perfect choice. He is surprisingly empathetic, carrying souls from Earth to elsewhere, holding onto them for a few moments before he watches them pass. No matter what happens, Death is everywhere, and he is always busy. Also, as noted on the final page, Death is haunted by humans.

At 550 pages, this novel is quite long, but this thought-provoking story about the perseverance of the human spirit is worth every minute. The Book Thief leaves the reader feeling like they have been on an emotional roller coaster, but that they will be the first in line for the next ride.