The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006)

This appeared on a few "books to read" lists, so I got it from the library and almost did not make it though. Way too heavy for me right now. This is supposed to be a young adult book, but I have no idea how young adults read it, understand it, respond to it. It was the heaviest of the heavies on World War II, on all the deaths, the annihilation of Jews, the Hitler youth, the lack of food - it is all there. I like books about books, which is partially why I picked this up, but though books and words play a major part in this story, it was very difficult to read.

The narrator is Death, who gets very busy during the war. An interesting perspective. It reminded me of Brightest Star in the Sky , but that was a different kind of spirit seeing into everyone's souls. Death is fascinated by the life of this one girl Liesel, our book thief. 

The book is written in strange ways, with chapter headings giving sort of a table of contents, e.g. Prologue: a mountain range of rubble, in which our narrator introduces: himself -- the colors -- and the book thief. There are lots of interspersions, like *** A Strange Word *** or *** The Book's Meaning *** and these are followed by some explanation. A lot of German words are used throughout the book, including slang. Most of them are explained and give flavor to the book. In three places there are illustrations, as we have one of the characters writing and illustrating his own thoughts and stories - and we get a sample of those. Other than the last piece, I found these interspersions annoying, but maybe they help slow down the story, so it is easier to deal with the heaviness of the material.

There are so many references to the events and situations in history, I am really not sure how kids understand this. And though I know that time period fairly well, I felt that much of what the writer was trying to convey was going over my head.

Liesel's little brother dies of a cough, when they bury him, she finds a handbook of the graveyard diggers, which is her first stolen book. Her mother can't take care of her and she is sent to a foster home with Hans and Rose Hubermann. Hans is a painter, plays the accordion and teaches Liesel to read. Rose takes in other people's laundry. Liesel's best friend is Rudy, next door, who is obsessed with Jesse Owens and loves to run. Hans takes in the son of a war-time buddy - Max, a Jew, whom he hides in his basement. People die, people get whipped for trying to give Jews some bread. I don't know what else to say. I think I want to try reading something else by this author, but only if it is lighter.