The Book Thief (c2006) by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is being marketed as a YA (young adult) novel, maybe because it features a young protagonist, but it is a universal story that would appeal to people of any age--although I think it may be a little dark for children.

The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who is telling the story of a girl he encounters at intervals throughout her life. Liesel Meminger is a young girl the first time she encounters Death. Liesel is riding on a train with her mother and younger brother, when she sees her brother's death. Liesel and her mother get off the train to bury her younger brother, and it is at his graveside that Liesel first steals a book.

After Liesel's brother is buried, she continues the journey to her new home with her mother. Her new home is as a foster child to Rosa and Hans Hubermann in Molching, Germany, on Himmel Street. The year was 1939. Although her new home is strange to Liesel, and she mourns her brother and the loss of her mother, her foster parents are kind. Soon Liesel develops a bond with her new Mama and Papa, becoming especially attached to her Papa, Hans, a painter and accordion player. Much that goes on in the lives of Liesel, Hans, Rosa, and the other characters in the book is circumscribed by the Nazi Party's rule over their country. Everyone is required to show loyalty to the Party, whether or not they are in agreement with its goals.

Much of the story concerns the years the Hubermann family spend secretly hiding a Jewish man in their basement, and Liesel's growing friendship with and concern for Max. Along the way, Liesel makes friends with a neighborhood boy named Rudy, with a curmudgeonly neighbor lady, and with a grieving mother. Throughout the years of the story, Liesel grows from a scrappy young girl to a teen.

The Book Thief is a novel of growing up, a novel of the redemptive powers of love, a novel about the power of words, and a novel that describes life in Nazi Germany for poor working people. It shows how people were able to overcome their circumstances, and make meaningful lives, despite a situation that was designed to dehumanize them. As Death says, at the end, "I am haunted by humans."

for more on Markus Zusak & The Book Thief, see:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/