The Book Thief was written by Markus Kusak and published in 2005. The story is told from Death’s perspective and revolves around the life and relationships of one young girl, Liesel. Liesel lives in Nazi Germany with her foster parents during treacherous times. Times become even more dangerous when her family harbors a Jewish man in their basement and Liesel must help keep his presence a secret from everyone she knows even her best friend, Rudy. Throughout the story Liesel’s affinity for books and words grows prompting her to steal books from the mayor’s wife and even from Nazi book burnings.
The Book Thief would be a fantastic resource to use when learning about World War II and Nazi Germany. In particular, students could debate the censorship of books that is seen in the novel. Book burnings were common-place events in Liesel’s time. Students could conduct a debate about whether censorship is justifiable and the ramifications of censorship.
Overall, I liked the plot and theme of The Book Thief, however, it was a bit hard to get accustomed to reading the story from Death’s perspective. The writing is abrupt at times and includes atypical breaks in the action of the story to state facts or descriptions. Quickly, though, the reader is drawn into the story by Kusak’s charming characters and suspenseful plot and thus able to look past some of the atypical elements. I believe this award winning book would be well loved by middle and high school aged students. 
(Image retrieved from amazon.com)
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