The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak

In The Book Thief tells us the story of Liesel, a girl growing up in Germany before and during World War II.  The story is narrated by Death, who is wearied by the workload created for him by the war.  Liesel's first brush with Death comes when her brother Werner dies during the trip to stay with foster parents.  This event also coincides with Liesel's first act of book thievery, as she takes the Gravedigger's Handbook, which had fallen in the snow.  Liesel continues to steal books from various places throughout the book.  One of these places is the library of Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife, for whom Liesel and her foster mother work from time to time.  Ilsa tolerates Liesel's thievery.  Nazi book-burnings were occurring during this time, and Liesel steals a book from one of the burnings.  A Jew named Max is sheltered by Liesel's foster parents and Liesel and he become good friends.  Max encourages Liesel to write her own book, which she entitles The Book Thief.  Liesel's book ultimately saves her from dying in the bombing of Himmel Street, as she was in the basement of her foster parents house when the bombing occurred.  She is the only survivor.

Analysis- The Book Thief  is a great example of postmodern literature.  The choice to have the novel narrated by Death is interesting, and ultimately very meaningful to the novel.  Death in this novel is not portrayed as something evil, but rather as a man wearied by the senseless slaughter of war.  Along with Maus, this would be a great book for a unit focusing on the Holocaust, as it is engaging to readers and frankly confronts the horrors of World War II.  This book would be best for students in middle school and early high school.

Ideas-  Maus, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman, would be a great companion to this novel.  A good assignment for a unit that includes these two novels would be a web investigation which explores World War II.  There is a wealth of information on the subject, and chances are students will want to know more about this frightening period of history after reading the two novels.