Dianne (gardngal) reviewed on 7/25/2009 + 268 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This is the most powerful book I have read in quite some time. Liesel is a small girl of nine, on a train with her mother and brother to meet her foster parents. She will live with her Papa and Mama on Himmel Street in an impoverished suburb of Munich from 1939 to the end of the war. She is initially illiterate, but Papa lovingly teaches her to read. To relieve the boredom and for the shear love of words, she takes to stealing books - her most precious possessions. The story is narrated by Death, but not in a morbid or morose way at all; instead, Death is rather bemused by humans, and is an observer of the way humans interact. He will even state, "He didn't deserve to die like that."

What this girl learns and experiences during the next five years of her life, as she moves into adolescence during the war in Nazi Germany, is a moving story of love, hardship, compassion and survival.

I must add a note about the writing itself. The author uses words and expressions that are very unique, and I found reading his book delightful.

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