The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

TITLE: THE BOOK THIEF
AUTHOR: MARKUS ZUSAK
GENRE: YOUNG ADULT FICTION
RATING: 5 STARS

I just finished rereading The Book Thief and I don't know if I have the words to describe how this book has touched me! On a scale from 1 to 5, I would give it a 10. I will admit that several times during the first few chapters, I almost put it down and started reading something else. I am EXTREMLY happy that I didn't. This is a book that is well worth the read! The basic description of this book is that it's about a young girl named Liesel Meminger as she grows up in Nazi Germany. One of the descriptions that I read of it says, it's a "coming of age story about faith, love, hope amidst tragedy." I think that if I was to try giving a more in-depth description of what the book was about, I'd end up writing several pages and not do the story justice. I'll just include a quote from the book itself, describing what the story is all about:

"It's a small story really, about, among other things:
* A girl
* Some words
* An accordionist
* Some fanatical Germans
* A Jewish fist fighter
* And quite a lot of thievery"

Markus Zusak is an incredible writer. The descriptions of things and events would just leave me gaping! He has a way of painting a picture that just brings everything to life. His narrative/story telling style was very distinctive and intriguing. The narrator of the story had such a unique viewpoint on the events, plus he would give you these glimpses of what was going to happen much later in the story. It was completely different from what I am used to, but I loved it. But saying all of that, I have to admit to something. All of those things that I just mentioned, I was really only able to recognize, appreciate, and enjoy them with a very small portion of my mind. The rest was so wrapped up in the story itself, that I had a hard time pulling myself away from it long enough to appreciate how the story was being told. This was such a powerful and yet heartbreaking story. If you only like books that are lighthearted, happy, and have a happily ever after, you will hate this book. If you can stand for your heart to be broken (and not just once) then this book is well worth the time to read it!

I will definitely be reading it again!