The Book Thief
Few books give me chills anymore. Fewer still can make me cry. The Book Thief accomplished both of these goals. You may not consider chills & crying over a book a goal, but sometimes it's just such an unexpected release... I finished this book over two weeks ago and I still get chills when I think about it...
Death is the narrator. He is the one to tell us the Book Thief's story. Surprised? I'll admit I was! I was floored that Death was the narrator. I thought, "How morbid is that?" but when the setting is WWII Germany, Death becomes the most appropriate person (floating figure?) for the job. Death sees life in colors. He describes the colors he sees while he works, and we even get his favorite:
Personally, I like a chocolate-colored sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however, try to enjoy every color I see--the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavors, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax.
Who can blame him for a small pleasure with such a grisly job? At least he can try and enjoy the colors, but be warned - he can't always enjoy the colors because of the terribly heavy load he has to carry throughout the war.
When we meet Leisel she is on a train with her mother and little brother, on her way to a "safer" life. (Her father was associated with communism & if I remember correctly seems to have disappeared. Her mother is sickly.) Her brother dies on the train and that is how Death meets the Book Thief. It is only Leisel who goes on to stay with Hans & Rosa Hubermann. Hans is a gentle soul who plays the accordian and helps to ease Leisel's nightmares by helping her learn to read. His wife Rosa is a force to be reckoned with. She tolerates no foolishness and swears in just about every sentence she mutters, whether she's in a good mood or bad. ***There is quite a bit of swearing in German going on. You are given the English definitions once, then they are in German for the rest of the book.***
Life is dificult. There's not enough food or work to go around. Himmel Street where the Hubermann's live is pretty much the last area of Munich you would want to be living. The irony here? Himmel street translates to Heaven, and it's a far cry from that.
Leisel makes a great friend in Rudy, the next door neighbor boy. Rudy is a head-strong young man who doesn't take a lot of flack from others. His involvement with the Hitler Youth gives a little known view into what it involved and what the boys' purpose was. This can lead him into sticky situations (that he does create for himself, but when you rebel because you believe in something, is it wrong? I'll leave you to decide for yourselves.)
Things become more complicated when a stranger associated to the Hubermann's through Hans' history shows up. His story could actually be considered worse than Leisel's, but when you're talking about a country torn up by war, how could things not be difficult? When he has to leave, he leaves Leisel a gift that he worked on painstakingly. His story within Leisel's story is moving and powerful, especially with our current knowledge of things that happened during WWII. That definitely doesn't mean you can't learn something from this book.
I'm thinking I'm going to have to end this review, because if I let myself continue on I'll give away the ending. I couldn't in good conscience deny you your right to cry over the end. I will say that the ending did surprise me.
All in all, this is a powerful, gritty story that deserves the Michael L. Printz Honor Award (besides other acclaims like the Kathleen Mitchell Award, the Association of Jewish Libraries inaugural Teen Book Award, and the Jewish National Book Award (in the Young Adult \ Childrens’ division). Markus was also chosen as one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Young Writers of the year.
I'd recommend this title to:
- anyone fascinated by WWII
- historical fiction readers
- those who like an excellently told story-great plot, dialogue, even the way the book is divided/formatted
- EVERYONE! (you might see that from me A LOT!)
FYI - if you liked this title you may want to check out his other book, I Am the Messenger. I can't really tell you much about this one other than it's in my pile of 'To Read' books which never seems to get any smaller....