The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Dec 2007 · Sold by Knopf Books for Young Readers

About this eBook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME • A NEW YORK TIMES READER TOP 100 PICK FOR BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

The extraordinary, beloved novel about the ability of books to feed the soul even in the darkest of times.

When Death has a story to tell, you listen.

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. 

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
 
“The kind of book that can be life-changing.” —The New York Times
 
“Deserves a place on the same shelf with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.” —USA Today

DON’T MISS BRIDGE OF CLAY, MARKUS ZUSAK’S FIRST NOVEL SINCE THE BOOK THIEF.

Ratings and reviews

Worst book I've ever read! This book was awful. It was filled with plotholes and missing time. It jumped back and forth in its timeline to tell you about people dying years before or after they did. It also skipped over entire seasons just to tell you about them later. It had much unnesacary cursing and often important things went unsaid. The similies were atrocious because they seemed forced and many either didn't make sense or were just plain stupid. Everyday things were described repeatedly while things such as setting and emotion were lost. Some characters had their single descriptions (such as lemon-yellow hair or hair like feathers) repeated a dozen times while others were described vaguely or lacking common sense. The book repeated itself so much and it was all over the place. I wanted to throw it in a shredder when I finally finished. I'm just glad I didn't get too attached to the characters, since most of them died. It's only a bestseller because it's written in 40 languages.

Wow. This is deffinately my favorite book, though the first post here says its for grades nine and up im in 7th. whoops! But I love it, the holocaust is something I love to learn about but I don't like how practically every book about it is in a jews point of veiw. And now I really stand behind that becaus ehtis is the story no one will wait and listen, and care to hear. They want to believe that all Germans were terrible and supported this. Well hell, this is exactly the kind of book that should be thought about when you say read a book about this or that for say a book report. Finally someone has told the story of the Germans who didn't agree with Hitler and didn't want to hang a flag. And it was so beautifully written and I even cried when poor old Rudy Steiner died. I have so much to say that i'm afraid it won't fit. But more people should deffinately read this.

I absolutley love this book. It has a wonderful way of describing things and i love the narration from deaths point of view. I love the character Liesel and her Pappa Hans, i especially love Rudy, but Rosa is also an awsome character, i think that my favorite character, however, is Max. The whole book is heartbreaingly wonderfull. I recomend you read this book but make sure you are ready, it will make you cry.

About the author

Markus Zusak is the international bestselling author of six novels, including The Book Thief and most recently, Bridge of Clay. His work is translated into more than forty languages, and has spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia.
All of Zusak’s books – including earlier titles, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry (also titled Getting the Girl), and The Messenger (or I am the Messenger) – have been awarded numerous honors around the world, ranging from literary prizes to readers choice awards to prizes voted on by booksellers.
In 2013, The Book Thief was made into a major motion picture, and in 2018 was voted one of America’s all-time favorite books, achieving the 14th position on the PBS Great American Read. Also in 2018, Bridge of Clay was selected as a best book of the year in publications ranging from Entertainment Weekly to the Wall Street Journal. 
Markus Zusak grew up in Sydney, Australia, and still lives there with his wife and two children.