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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Cover image of The Book Thief 

The following information has been taken from the Picador (Pan MacMillan) website.

Description:

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

Liesel Meminger and her younger brother are being taken by their mother to live with a foster family outside Munich. Liesel's father was taken away on the breath of a single, unfamiliar word – Kommunist – and Liesel sees the fear of a similar fate in her mother's eyes. On the journey, Death visits the young boy, and notices Liesel. It will be the first of many near encounters. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery.

So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

Pan MacMillan Reading Notes.

About the Author:

Markus Zusak lives in Sydney with his wife, daughter and son. He has written five novels: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry, The Messenger and in 2005 The Book Thief was published. It has gone on to sell over eight million copies in thirty eight languages.

Awards: (taken from Wikipedia)

  • 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 [4]
  • 2007 - ALA Best Books for Young Adults
  • 2007 - Michael L. Printz Honor Book
  • 2007 - Book Sense Book of the Year
  • 2009 - Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Master List

Author Interviews:

Interview with Markus Zusak from Random House Publishing (YouTube video)

Markus Zusak talks about the writing of The Book Thief (text)

Reviews:

New York Times Book Review by John Green

The Age review by Peter Pierce

The Guardian Review by Philip Ardagh