The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Country: Australia

Year: 2005

Pages: 552

Rating: 5 out of 5

First sentence: First the colors.

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

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger'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, adn 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 Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

What I thought: I can not come up with the words to describe this book that would do it justice. It is that good. It is written from the unique perspective of Death, a wry, frank, and compassionate character who sees moments in shades of color: The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness. (p.12). We learn how Death comes to know the book thief and her story. It is an emotionally draining read. 

Towards the end, I was reading parts out loud to my daughter when she was fussy, so that I could calm her down and try to finish the book at the same time. I had to stop, I literally could not read the story out loud without crying. 

There is plenty of foreshadow. I know what is going to happen. I know how it is going to end. And I still sobbed through the last few chapters. Yet, a narrative filled with death and despair, one of the overarching themes is that of hope and love. There is so much love in this story, and overflows from the pages to the reader. 

And, always a favorite for bibliophiles, it is very much a story about words: 

She tore a page from the book and ripped it in half. 

Then a chapter.

Soon, there was nothing but scraps of words littered between her legs and all around her. The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better. 

What good were the words?

She said it audibly now, to the orange-lit room. "What good are the words?"(p.521)

I was particularly captured by the story within a story - the writings and illustrations of Max, the Jew hidden in the basement. His short story, The Word Shaker, could easily be a stand alone children's book. The book is marketed as young adult fiction, but is just as enjoyable and meaningful for adults.

Favorite quotes:

For now, Rudy and Liesel made their way onto Himmel Street in the rain.

He was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world. 

She was the book thief without the words.

Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain. (p. 80)

I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right. (p.528)

*** A SMALL PIECE OF TRUTH***

I do not carry a sickle or scythe.

I only wear a hooded black robe when it's cold.

And I don't have those skull-like

facial features you seem to enjoy

pinning on me from a distance. You

want to know what I truly look like?

I'll help you out. Find yourself

a mirror while I continue.

(p. 307)

2008 Sydney Taylor Book Awards

The 2008 Sydney Taylor book awards were announced earlier this month. This award honors new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.It looks like a great selection of books, and I will definitely be heading to the library to check some of these out!

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers:

The Bedtime Sh'ma: A Good Night Book by Sarah Gershman
with illustrations by Kristina Swarner
(EKS Publishing)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers:

The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman
(HarperCollins Children’s Books)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers:

Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin
(Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners for Younger Readers:

The Castle on Hester Street by Linda Heller with illustrations by Boris Kulikov (Simon & Schuster)

Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale by Sarah Marwil Lamstein with illustrations by Neil Waldman (Boyds Mills Press)

Light by Jane Breskin Zalben (Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)

Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winners for Older Readers:

The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story by Peter Lane Taylor and Christos Nicola (Kar-Ben)

Holocaust: The Events and Their Impact on Real People by Angela Gluck Wood
with consulting by Dan Stone (DK Publishing in association with USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education)

Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winner for Teen Readers:
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie by Mirjam Pressler, translated by Erik J. Macki (Front Street/ Boyds Mills Press)

Notable Books for Younger Readers:

My Cousin Tamar Lives in Israel by Michelle Shapiro Abraham with illustrations by Ann Koffsky (URJ Press)

A Nickel, a Trolley, a Treasure House by Sharon Reiss Baker with illustrations by Beth Peck (Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)

Shuli and Me: From Slavery to Freedom by Joan Benjamin-Farren (Black Jasmine)

Papa Jethro by Deborah Bodin Cohen with illustrations by Jane Dippold (Kar-Ben)

Hanukkah Moon by Deborah da Costa with illustrations by Gosia Mosz (Kar-Ben)

Celebrate Passover with Matzah, Maror and Memories by Deborah Heiligman (National Geographic)

Celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with Honey, Prayers and the Shofar by Deborah Heiligman (National Geographic)

Five Little Gefiltes by Dave Horowitz (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)

Mendel’s Accordion by Heidi Smith Hyde with illustrations by Johanna Van Der Sterre (Kar-Ben)

Abraham’s Search for God by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Natascia Ugliano (Kar-Ben)

A Mezuzah on the Door by Amy Meltzer with illustrations by Janice Fried (Kar-Ben)

Ten Good Rules: A Counting Book by Susan Remick Topek with photographs by Tod Cohen (Kar-Ben)

Notable Books for Older Readers:

Out of Line: Growing Up Soviet by Tina Grimberg (Tundra)

A Picture for Marc by Eric Kimmel with illustrations by Matthew Trueman (Random House Children’s Books)

Anne Frank: The Young Writer Who Told the World Her Story by Ann Kramer (National Geographic)

The Silver Cup by Constance Leeds (Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)

Passover Around the World by Tami Lehman-Wilzig with illustrations by Elizabeth Wolf (Kar-Ben)

The Whirlwind by Carol Matas (Orca)

Penina Levine is a Hard-Boiled Egg by Rebecca O'Connell with illustrations by Majella Lue Sue (Roaring Brook Press)

All Star Season by Tovah Yavin (Kar-Ben)

Notable Books for Teens:

How to Ruin My Teenage Life by Simone Elkeles (Flux)

Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb (Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

Hidden on the Mountain: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland Desaix (Holiday House)

Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel by Marv Wolfman, Mario Ruiz and William J. Rubin (Nachshon Press)