It’s just 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.It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.
By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
552 pages (January 2005)
Book Page at BookBrowse.
Lit Guide from LitLovers. To find a discussion guide for this book in the NoveList Plus database, go to the Library's website, click on Novelist under "We Recommend" → "Book Services". Click on "Book Discussion Guides" in the right sidebar on NoveList's
home page. Then, either enter the title in the Search box or search for
the title alphabetically. (You will need your Salt Lake County Library
card number to access this resource outside a county library.)
"Why I Write Books" by Markus Zusak (for The Guardian)
Interview with Markus Zusak:
This title is available for download as an eBook and as an eAudioBook. Learn more about downloadables from the library here.
Title Read-alikes: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys; Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit; Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli; Traitor by Gudrun Pausewang; All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton; Lovely War by Julie Berry; Ashes by Kathryn Lasky; Malka by Mirjam Pressler; The Love That I Have by James Moloney; The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel; They Went Left by Monica Hesse; All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr; and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
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