The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a story about Liesel Hubermann, a girl growing up with foster parents in Nazi Germany. Being narrated by Death itself, it reads from a different perspective. Liesel steals books from various places and learns how to read. She finds a sense of comfort tangled between words and uses it as her escape from the distressing time she resided in. Liesel also becomes really good friends with Rudy, who is a boy in her neighborhood. Her family then takes a risky decision and takes in a Jew named Max and provides him protection from the Nazi forces. Max’s father had once helped Liesel’s father so it was only right that they returned the favor for him. Liesel slowly develops a bond with Max and they become best of friends. As the war intensifies, the Nazi forces become more and more strict. They start barging into homes and even parading Jewish prisoners through communities. Liesel then starts doing laundry for Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife. Illsa’s in-home library contains a great number of books, which as expected steals Liesel’s attention. Liesel starts stealing books from Ilsa’s library, and that in no time becomes a routine for her. The mayor’s wife finds out that Liesel is stealing from her so she leaves her a note and a blank notebook. Liesel starts writing her own story in the blank notebook. Max then leaves Hubermann’s home and goes off on his own to ensure that everyone stays safe. One night, when Liesel is in the basement working on her book, her neighborhood is bombed. All of her friends and family are killed. Rescue workers find her in the rubble and she leaves her book behind, which is called The Book Thief. Death then comes and picks up the book for her. Liesel then goes to live with the mayor and his wife. Max returns to town and he and Liesel are at last united again.
I would rate this book 3 stars. It has a very powerful storyline and I liked how it was narrated by Death. Throughout some parts of the novel, I felt that the story wasn’t moving. The storyline stayed steady for a very long time which would make some people lose interest. Unlike other books about the Holocaust, this had a unique style to it. It focused a lot more on character relationships and descriptions. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read a book about Nazi Germany in a different style.