Bibliography
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief (Signed!). Chicago: The Bodley Head, 2007.
Critical Analysis
First the colors.
Then the humans.
That’s usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.
***HERE IS A SMALL FACT***
You are going to die.
Death narrates the story of a girl, Liesel in 1939 Nazi Germany. It is the story of the power of words and reading in a time and place where it was frowned upon. No one was supposed to form their own opinions. Opinions were handed to you by the Fuhrer. This is a story of Nazi Germany. Most of the time we read stories of the oppressed in this situation, so it is a different read with many of the same qualities we usually read about during this war.
This writer creates a very strong character development throughout the novel. Watching and reading about how Liesel grows up to be such a smart and mature young lady captivates the heart and creates an instant bond between the character and reader. Readers are also instantly touched by Rudy’s candidness. Finding moments to laugh while reading of such a depressing time is difficult, so it is nice to smile when we read about Rudy painting himself black with charcoal to impersonate Jesse Owens while he races.
Although the book is a little bit too lengthy, it still captivates the reader’s attention with each word that Death narrates. Death uses so many metaphors, similes, analogies and other descriptive language that it is a very poetic and easy read that one pictures as the story folds out in front of them. Death being personified as this character, usually viewed as dark and evil, but in this instance is just as sad with all the, well…death, that surrounds the place, as the rest of us are.
Even though this is a gloomy, dark, and sad book to read it is well worth finishing to fully appreciate the strength and perseverance of these characters from this time period. Personally, I found it one of the most difficult books to finish and it took the longest out of this course to complete the reading because of the stories I have heard from my grandfather of WWII. Zusack is such a great writer and the words that he uses are even felt by the reader.
Practical suggestion
http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/thebookthief/
Have young adults create a book trailer for this novel.
Read this novel after reading a nonfiction portrayal of the Holocaust, preferably “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
Awards:
2008 Ena Noel Award - the IBBY Australia Ena Noël Encouragement Award for Children's Literature
2007 Michael L. Printz Honor book by the Young Adult Library Services Association
2006 Kathleen Mitchell Award 2006 (literature)
External assessments
School Library Journal
Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesel’s story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.
Booklist
There's too much commentary at the outset, and too much switching from past to present time, but as in Zusak's enthralling I Am the Messenger (2004), the astonishing characters, drawn without sentimentality, will grab readers. More than the overt message about the power of words, it's Liesl's confrontation with horrifying cruelty and her discovery of kindness in unexpected places that tell the heartbreaking truth.
The Horn Book Magazine
Exquisitely written and memorably populated, Zusak's poignant tribute to words, survival, and their curiously inevitable entwinement is a tour de force to be not just read but inhabited.
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