"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

522 pages

Death and Chocolate. The Gravedigger's Handbook. Dead Letters. These are only a sampling of the interesting chapter titles from "The Book Thief." Set in Germany during World War II, it tells the story of young Liesel Meminger who is sent to live with a foster family outside of Munich. Her brother dies on the way to their new home and this leaves Liesel traumatized, causing her to have terrible nightmares in the middle of the night. To distract her and help her fall back to sleep, Liesel's foster father, Hans, begins teaching her to read after she wakes up from her disturbing dreams. Before long, Liesel begins to turn to books for comfort. Then the war begins, and Hans loses a lot of business because he doesn't support the Nazis. Things get worse and worse as the war rages on, and Liesel--desperate for comfort more than ever--begins to steal books. Her life gets even more dangerous, however, when Hans and his wife hide a Jewish man in their basement to protect him from the Gestapo. And, oh yeah, this book is narrated by Death.

This is going to be a totally random, sort of stream-of-consciousness review because "The Book Thief" stands out to me in so many different ways. I. Love. This. Book. I don't recommend doing any multitasking with this one, because I tried to read it on the workout bike at the gym and found that I had to stop and sit down so I could really focus on it. Not because it's hard to follow, but because I felt like it deserved my undivided attention. First of all, it drew me in immediately. The fact that it's narrated by Death is fascinating, and the list of chapter titles at the beginning of each part is intriguing. Furthermore, "The Book Thief" shows a perspective that is quite underrepresented in young adult literature: that of "good Germans" who defied the Nazis and assisted Jews in any way that they could. The characters are brought to life perfectly: Liesel, who has been through so much yet remains strong; Hans, who is the father every girl would want to have; Rosa, Liesel's tough but secretly soft-on-the-inside foster mother; Rudy, who once covered himself in black paint and called himself Jesse Owens; and Max, the guilt-stricken Jew hiding in the basement. I adored them all. Another thing that's great about this book is that it demonstrates the power of books and their ability to change peoples' lives. I also like the way that it shows the extremes of human nature: how horribly evil people can be but also how compassionate and courageous others are. That's really all I can say without revealing a spoiler, so I recommend that you check it out if you haven't already.