Genre: Historical Fiction, Bildungsroman, YA Fiction
Key Stage: Year 9+
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)
Plot: The Book Thief is a novel narrated by Death about the story of a girl with blond hair and ‘dangerous’ brown eyes. This girl’s name is Leisel Meminger who lives with her foster parents, the Hubermanns after her biological parents were taken away to concentration camps. She has a tendency for stealing books and becomes known as the book thief. Death will visit Liesel three times in the time period of WWII when the bombs begin to fall. This is Leisel’s and the story of the inhabitants on Himmel Street who share their experiences of the war.
Positives and negatives: This book made me forget which year I was in: the level of detail was just so mesmerising. It put me into the shoes of Liesel and I could literally see every scene in my head as if I was right there and then. Almost at once, I fell in love with the personality of Liesel: she is daring, courageous and loyal and she in a way reminded me of myself. Though, I am not limited to one personality. But what I loved the most in this novel was not Liesel but Hans, his personality and his connection to others- the way not only Death but also Liesel and everyone else recognises him as the gentlemen with silver eyes was just absolutely beautiful and reminds me of two of my loved ones. With Hans, I respect him so much, just as much as the characters did in the book. This book, undoubtably can’t have any negatives to review.
Who I would recommend to and what to read next: This is a book perfect for all those young historians out there who want to learn about the experiences and impacts of World War II through the perspectives and feelings of others in a way that matches with the history and the facts. If you felt the same way that I did with this book and want to read more books like this, you should read ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’, ‘The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas’, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and if you are an older reader then you should also read ‘Salt to the Sea’.
Reviewer: Yaminah, Year 9