Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

This is a book that I read for the first time around four years ago when I first started teaching. This novel is one that I have loved ever since then.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak takes place in World War II in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is not quite an orphan, but she is placed in foster care because her mother can't provide for her. Liesel goes to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann, and they completely change Liesel's life. On her way to the Hubermann's, Liesel's younger brother dies on the train. In the graveyard where he was buried is where Liesel steals her first book: The Grave Digger's Handbook. Hans teaches her to read it, and inspires her love of the written word. The Hubermann's will then hide a Jew in their basement for a time. What will become of that hidden Jew? What will become of Liesel? What will become of Himmel Street, her friends, and her family in the wake of a violent and terrible war?

This book is probably one of my all-time favorite novels. The novel is written from the perspective of Death, who is a personified narrator. Death is not one to mince details or give you many surprises. He is very clear from the start exactly what is going to happen, and yet the tale of how they get there is fascinating and well-written.

I love the characters in this novel. I love the way everyone is described. I also love that we have a story from the German's side. Often historical fiction from this time period does not take place in Germany itself, and I feel that we miss that narrative a little. Not that I think the Nazi narrative of persecution and hatred has any place in literature, it is nice to see the author choose someone who just wanted to protect his family and the Jew living in his basement. Hans' clumsy attempts to join the party, and his love of people are sharply contrasted with Hitler's doctrine of hatred.

I think my complaints with this book are fairly few and minor. Sometimes Death's narration gets repetitive and a little clumsy. Zusak likes to write in extremely. short. sentences. Sometimes, that gets old, and feels a little disjointed from the rest of the novel as well.

In all, I rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a book I highly recommend to my students who like WWII novels.

There is one scene that might make some uncomfortable, and Rosa swears a lot.

Brene Brown: Daring Greatly

Brene Brown is one of my favorite TED speakers of all time. I have listened to her TED talks numerous times and used them in my classroom each year. I love her message: that we can't have success, innovation, change, and creativity without first having vulnerability. I love that she is seeking to demystify vulnerability and teach what shame is and how it destroys our ability to accept ourselves and others. I am not normally into the self-help kind of books, but of the books I've read this year, this is one of my favorites! Daring Greatly by Brene Brown discusses the concepts of shame and vulnerability and how we need vulnerability, but not shame. She gives strategies for combating shame and becoming "shame resilient." She gives strategies to use as parents, teachers, friends, and spouses. For one thing, I love Dr. Brown's Texan accent (she narrates the audiobook herself! 💗). Her voice and personality are all throughout this book. She is not afraid to use persona...

Anthony Doerr - All the Light We Cannot See

I'd heard about the Netflix series that adapted this, and many of my coworkers have read it. I also love World War II stories (if you can't tell by my historical fiction choices, haha). This book also won a major prize, and I was curious about the story. All the Light We Cannot See follows two characters in two timelines. It bounces from the past to the present between Marie-Laure and Werner. Marie-Laure is a young girl who lives in Paris with her father. Her father works for the Museum of Natural History in Paris. As the Germans close in on Paris at the start of World War II, Daniel (Marie-Laure's father) is entrusted with one of the museum's priceless treasures: the Sea of Flames. He and Marie-Laure flee Paris to the home of Daniel's wealthy uncle, where they stay until the city is bombed. Werner is a poor German orphan in a mining town. He is particularly gifted with mathematics and engineering, and is given the opportunity to go to a prestigious Nazi school. H...

Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

Search This Blog