Not the type I would have chosen, still worth the read

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hitler is slowly rising to power and Liesel is having to grow up. As a German, if you weren’t for Hitler you were a threat. First her father disappears. Next her mother is chronically ill and finds she can’t afford to take care of herself or her children—Liesel and her brother. Liesel’s mother arranges with an agency for her children to be put in foster care. Then her brother doesn’t make it—he dies on the train en route.

Leisel is still placed with the Hubermans. While in there care, she learns about war time, injustice, and how different people deal with tragedy.

Since it is told from the perspective of death through the eyes of a poor, young, non-Nazi, it definitely sheds a different light on that time period. The writing style seemed disjointed and didn’t capture my interest until about half-way through; though Zusak does paint some unique word picture. Still, The Book Thief was well worth my time and I would recommend it to young adults and up.


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