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'The Book Thief,' by Markus Zusak

Fighting for Their Lives

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Review by JOHN GREEN

• May 14, 2006

The Australian writer Markus Zusak's brilliant and hugely ambitious new young-adult novel is startling in many ways, but the first thing many teenagers will notice is its length: 552 pages! It's one thing to write a long book about, say, a boy who happens across a dragon's egg; it's quite another to write a long, achingly sad, intricately structured book about Nazi Germany narrated by Death itself.

Readers are introduced to this Death-as-storyteller concept in a too-long invocation that begins "The Book Thief." This is no Grim Reaper — we have here a kinder, gentler Death, who feels sympathy for his victims. As Death himself puts it on Page 1: "I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's." Maybe so, but Death is so innocuous that he's not very absorbing. Or affecting. His periodic soliloquies aren't the most effective moments of the novel, and if he took an M.F.A. class, Death would doubtless be criticized for telling instead of showing.

Fortunately, this book isn't about Death; it's about death, and so much else. Principally it is about Liesel Meminger, whose little brother dies just before Liesel's mother leaves her with foster parents in a dismal town in southern Germany (her father, a Communist, has been taken away).

Her new Papa is the implausibly saintly Hans Hubermann (that is, über-man), so good a person he even manages to love his wife, Rosa, who is one of the more memorable foster moms in young-adult fiction. She looks, Death tells us, "like a small wardrobe with a coat thrown over it. There was a distinct waddle to her walk. Almost cute, if it wasn't for her face." Rosa periodically beats Liesel with a wooden spoon, and uses exceedingly foul language. Much of it can't be quoted in a family newspaper, but suffice it to say that she routinely refers to her husband and foster daughter as "filthy pigs." Still, she cares for Liesel — and as Death eventually shows us, "She was a good woman for a crisis."

Liesel finds ways of coping with her losses. But she is disruptive in school (she volunteers answers to questions) and is predisposed to fighting with boys. More important, she becomes a thief. She commits her first theft at her brother's funeral, taking "The Grave Digger's Handbook," which had fallen on the ground. Hans teaches her to read it at night. While Liesel sometimes joins up with a gang to steal food and the like, her only thieving passion is for books. Not good books or bad books — just books. From her bedroom to the bomb shelter down the road, reading helps her commune with the living and the dead — and finally, it is the mere existence of stories that proves to be her salvation.

Liesel is a very well-drawn character (and immensely likable), but many young readers will find the going slow until Max Vandenburg, a 24-year-old Jewish boxer, shows up at the family doorstep. Hans, as it happens, owes the fighter's dead father a favor, so he houses Max in the basement.

Aside from his friendship with Liesel (in one of the book's many resonant metaphors, he makes her a comic book using painted-over pages from "Mein Kampf"), Max is arresting because of his situation. He has abandoned his doomed family in order to live in hiding. After leaving them, "the relief struggled inside him like an obscenity. It was something he didn't want to feel, but nonetheless, he felt it with such gusto it made him want to throw up. How could he? How could he? But he did." There is a cowardice to Max's fight for survival, and his guilt and shame tear at him. He and Liesel both suffer from nightmares — but Liesel's grief is relatively uncomplicated. She must live with her mother's choices. Max must live with his own.

Max isn't the only fighter Marcus Zusak has written about. His first novel published in America, "Fighting Ruben Wolfe" (2001), follows the fistic exploits of Cameron and Ruben Wolfe, brothers who scrape by in a working-class neighborhood in Sydney. As boxers in an illicit league, Ruben becomes a champion and his little brother Cam, an inferior boxer, is known for his strong chin and resilience. In the end, it's Ruben who wants to be like Cam — better to be a fighter than a winner.

That novel was followed by a sequel, "Getting the Girl" (2003), which is about learning to fight for, and open up to, love, and then by the award-winning "I Am the Messenger" (2005), a strange and alluring novel about a 19-year-old compelled to vigilantism by anonymous instructions delivered on playing cards.

All of Zusak's protagonists have been fighters, whether born or made. But while his writing has always been ambitious and his characterizations precise, his early books merely celebrated fighting. In "The Book Thief," where battling to survive is sometimes an act of weakness, we see fighting in all its complexity. Max dreams, for instance, that he is boxing with the Führer. "There was only one round, and it lasted hours, and for the most part, nothing changed. The Führer pounded away at the punching-bag Jew." But then Max recovers and knocks Hitler down. Hitler takes off his gloves, seemingly defeated — until he whips the crowd into a fury. The "fists of an entire nation" attack Max, and he cannot fight them all off. This is fighting as "The Book Thief" understands it: winners often lose.

Indeed, everything is upside down in Zusak's Nazi Germany. Sounds are tasted, visions are heard, death has a heart, the strong do not survive, and your best chance of living may be a concentration camp. The entropy of this world is near complete.

Some will argue that a book so difficult and sad may not be appropriate for teenage readers. "The Book Thief" was published for adults in Zusak's native Australia, and I strongly suspect it was written for adults. Adults will probably like it (this one did), but it's a great young-adult novel. Many teenagers will find the story too slow to get going, which is a fair criticism. But it's the kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, "The Book Thief" offers us a believable, hard-won hope. That hope is embodied in Liesel, who grows into a good and generous person despite the suffering all around her, and finally becomes a human even Death can love. The hope we see in Liesel is unassailable, the kind you can hang on to in the midst of poverty and war and violence. Young readers need such alternatives to ideological rigidity, and such explorations of how stories matter. And so, come to think of it, do adults.

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The Book Thief

By markus zusak.

‘The Book Thief’ is an incredible story of a young girl on the verge of adolescence who became bolder as she grew through life.

Article written by Juliet Ugo

Former Lecturer. Author of multiple books. Degree from University Of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The young orphan girl Liesel Meminger lost her family due to the political crisis in Germany at that time and then went to live with Hand and Rosa Hubermann. While living with her foster parents, she learns how to read and this opens up her understanding of the world. She learned the power of words and how she can affect the people around her using words.

She started stealing so she could satisfy her thirst for knowledge  and  was later encouraged by a woman she stole from, the Mayor’s wife. She also rescued some books that were being burned by the Nazis to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. It was her reading of books in the basement of their house that helped her escape destruction along with others when their street was bombed. Every other person in their house and surrounding died in the bomb blast. 

Markus Zusak deviated a bit from his previous novels in The Book Thief . Zusak’s other books were more literary works but this one was directed to young adults. He moved away from Australia where he has set the previous novels and went to Germany during World War II for this novel. He sets it in the fictional town of Molching, which is near Munich Germany. He also uses a female as his principal character, unlike his previous works where males are the protagonist.

Yet, The Book Thief is as interesting if not more than his other novels. Anyway, this one is focused on young adults with a young teenage girl as the protagonist. It helps the reader move through her emotions as she suffers from the loss of her own family to meeting a new family. She suffers and is bullied in school because she couldn’t read and then learns of communism and the Nazis and the Jews.

Horrors of War

The novel tells the story of what happened during the holocaust and the second world war in Germany. It was a hugely ambitious story with Death as the narrator which makes it unique in that aspect. Death lets us know what happened during those dark periods in Germany and the hardships experienced by human beings. At times, death expresses sorrow as having to collect so many souls, which usually happens when there is conflict and war in any nation. This is a unique trait in literature, giving death a compassionate attribute.

Going through the novel with death as the narrator helps us understand it more as he explores the various emotions inherent in humans like love, kindness, cruelty, wickedness, and more. He tries to understand how human beings can be kind or loving to their fellow beings yet also have the capacity to be cruel and treat others inhumanly. He mentioned in the book that he has noticed that he is always overestimating and underestimating human beings but never quite getting the correct estimate. All these were in connection with the cruelty, suffering, and death he saw in Germany during that period.

Man’s Mortality

Even though some people might say that the book is difficult and sad and so may not be appropriate for children especially teens. But the protagonist is a teenager that grew along with the story and so other teenagers will identify with her and her emotions. Again, having death as the narrator brings to life all the feelings and sufferings that humans go through.

Again, death discusses how people are dying and what happens when he is collecting their souls helps to move young adults and indeed everyone from the level of reality to a deeper level of understanding. Death as the narrator frequently interrupts himself to give us a foreshadowing of what is going to happen and who will die soon. He also talks about what happens when someone dies and how he collects their soul. He helps us to appreciate our frailty and mortality as human beings, as death says, our life is a line with a beginning and an end.

Family Life

This is a novel that parents will appreciate and they can read with their children. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned from anyone in the family. At the beginning of the novel, Liesel’s mother and brother are on a train to Himmel. At a point, the brother died and according to the story, it was due to a combination of malnutrition, sickness, and poverty. This lets us know that the mother is a destitute woman who cannot adequately feed or take care of her kids.

This was the reason why she was sending them to a foster family where she believed they would be better-taken care of. After settling in with her foster family and making many friends there, the cruel fate that was depicted in the novel still catches on with her, and her street was bombed and all her family and friends died. She only escaped because she was in the basement of the house, reading her books.

The story is well-written and using death as the narrator takes always the horrors of dying as he mentions that the souls he takes are healed and well-taken care of. This helps the reader to understand what happens after someone dies. Although having lots of death in the story can be depressing but then that is what obtains during war and conflicts.

The Book Thief is a story that shows heroism, love, sacrifice, friendship, kindness, courage, in the face of difficulties . This is a great novel that both adults and children will love to read even though it is graded as a young-adult novel. It is an exciting book that will keep you all night thinking about the themes and the messages that the author is passing across in the book. This is a life-changing book because it gives us a believable hope, the kind we see in Liesel.

Was The Book Thief ?

The Book Thief was not banned but at a time it was challenged. The reason is that the book depicts many features about the life of Nazis, the German people, and Jews during the periods that the second world war was fought. Again, the novel told the story of horror, suffering, cruelty as experienced by the Jews in particular and by other people affected by war. 

Is death in The Book Thief male or female?

In The Book Thief , the narrator Death’s gender was not revealed. But in different reviews on the internet, death is given to the male gender. Therefore, whenever the story is written about, death is referred to words like he, him, his. Since death is not a living being, it is genderless.

Who should read The Book Thief ?

The Book Thief is an exciting, adventurous book that is recommended for everyone. As long as you can read and understand, at least anyone from the age of 13 can read and enjoy the book. It is a serious story with many meaningful messages in it, and so younger kids may need adults to explain things to them.

What is the main message of The Book Thief ?

The major message that you can take away from The Book Thief is that even if you pass through harsh obstacles, you shouldn’t give up on life. All you should do is to calm down and try to deal with things in the right, peaceful way, and don’t lose hope no matter what.

Is The Book Thief an appropriate book?

The Book Thief is a great, interesting book that anyone should read. It is appropriate for people of all gender and ages. However, if your child is under 13, you need to read it with them so that you can explain certain things to them. This is because there are themes of sadness, grief, cruelty, and a bit of violence.    

The Book Thief: Markus Zusak’s Best-Loved Novel

Book Title: The Book Thief

Book Description: 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak is a poignant WWII tale through a young girl's eyes, uniquely narrated by Death, capturing the essence of human resilience and suffering.

Book Author: Markus Zusak

Book Edition: First UK Edition

Book Format: Hardcover

Publisher - Organization: Black Swan

Date published: May 17, 2005

ISBN: 0-613-98555-7

Number Of Pages: 552

• Writing Style
• Lasting Effect on Reader

The Book Thief Book Review

The Book Thief is an interesting book that you will remember for years to come. This novel is the compilation of what happened in Germany during World War II as heard from the stories that Zusak’s parents told him when he was little. With death as the narrator, it helps you see life, suffering and mortality in a different way. From the opening lines, it grips the reader and you keep reading until you get to the end. It is a powerful portrayal of life under the Nazi regime and how much suffering the Jews went through.

The Book Thief is Markus Zusak’s best-loved novel, read by millions of people all over the world. It has won best seller status in many countries as well as countless awards. It is enjoyed by young adults around the world and is being used in schools worldwide. This important account of the Holocaust and second world war as seen through the eyes of a young teenage girl shows the suffering that occurs when one loses their loved ones.

• Clear and concise language
• Interesting and adventurous storyline
• Death as the narrator is unconventional and unique
• Realistic characters
• Some spoiler effect due to a lot of foreshadowing in the story, when death tells the readers what was going to happen.
• Slow moving storyline

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About Juliet Ugo

Juliet Ugo is an experienced content writer and a literature expert with a passion for the written word with over a decade of experience. She is particularly interested in analyzing books, and her insightful interpretations of various genres have made her a well-known authority in the field.

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Awards & Accolades

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New York Times Bestseller

THE BOOK THIEF

by Markus Zusak ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2006

When Death tells a story, you pay attention. Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor. Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)

Pub Date: March 14, 2006

ISBN: 0-375-83100-2

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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More by Markus Zusak

BOOK REVIEW

by Markus Zusak

A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER

From the good girl's guide to murder series , vol. 1.

by Holly Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2020

A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.

Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.

Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More In The Series

by Holly Jackson

More by Holly Jackson

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BOOK TO SCREEN

THE REAPPEARANCE OF RACHEL PRICE

by Holly Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2024

Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist.

The mother Annabel Price thought was dead returns with a story about where she’s been—but 18-year-old Bel knows she’s lying.

Ever since Rachel Price’s unexplained disappearance 16 years ago, true-crime fans have come up with plentiful theories about what happened. Bel and her family members, who are white, cobbled together lives for themselves after a jury found Bel’s father, Charlie, not guilty of murdering his wife. Beset with medical bills for his elderly father, Charlie recently agreed to participate in a documentary about the unsolved mystery. Black British filmmaker Ramsey Lee is well into the process of interviewing the Prices when his project gets an unanticipated boost after an exhausted, disheveled Rachel staggers back into town. Rachel is eager to resume her role in the family, but the inconsistencies in her accounts raise alarms for Bel. With the help of the youngest member of the filmmaking team, Bel sets out to learn what really happened. Along the way, someone else disappears, and Bel uncovers a tangle of lies that make it impossible for her to trust people she thought she knew. When things come to a head the night of her grandfather’s 85th birthday party, Bel ends up in a race for her life. The last quarter of the novel tears along at a breakneck pace before arriving at a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.

Pub Date: April 2, 2024

ISBN: 9780593374207

Page Count: 448

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER

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The Literary Edit

The Book Thief Book Review

I’m well aware I say this about an awful lot of books that I read – and subsequently write about – on The Literary Edit, but I have been meaning to read The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak for absolutely yonks. First published sixteen years ago, I’ve owned various copies over the year – culminating one that Markus signed and dedicated to me after an event we hosted with him at Gertrude & Alice last year. I’ve genuinely lost count of the amount of the amount of people who’ve told me to read it over the years, but it was only when I recently recorded a podcast with Clay Zane Comber – author and owner of beautiful bookshop Bouquiniste – that I finally moved it to the top of my never ending TBR pile and sat down to read it.

Suffice to say that The Book Thief is the only story I’ve read that’s been narrated by death, and within the first chapter or two I was able to see why it’s been hailed by so many as a modern classic.

A touching tale that follows the life of Liesel Meminger, a young girl who’s just shy of ten years old when we first meet her, The Book Thief is set is pre-WW II Germany. After her father’s capture and her brother’s death, she’s handed over to foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann who live on Himmell Street in the town of Molching, just outside Munich. And while Rosa is often foul-mouthed and abrasive, Hans swiftly becomes a beloved and supportive papa to the young girl.

What follows is a poignant coming-of-age tale, in which the spirited young girl grows up against the backdrop of Nazi Germany. We witness her form a solid and strong friendship with local boy Rudy, develop a love for literature, fuelled by stolen books from the mayor’s wife’s library.

A beautiful, lyrical heart-wrenching and powerful tale, rich with ingenuity and imagination, The Book Thief is a love letter to words; to books; to their power for both good and evil and to friends that become family. It was well worth the wait.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak Summary

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.

Buy The Book Thief from Bookshop.org , Book Depository , Waterstones , Amazon or Amazon AU .

Further reading

I loved this TEDX talk , in which Markus Zusak explains how failure can often motivate us towards our greatest successes.

Markus Zusak author bio

Markus Zusak is the author of five books, including the international bestseller, The Book Thief, which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, and is translated into more than forty languages – establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia.

To date, Zusak has held the number one position at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in countries across South America, Europe and Asia.

His books, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry, The Messenger and The Book Thief have been awarded numerous honours ranging from literary prizes to readers’ choice awards to prizes voted on by booksellers.

More Markus Zusak books

Markus Zusak has also written The Underdog , Fighting Ruben Wolfe , When Dogs Cry, The Messenger and Bridge of Clay .

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4 comments on “The Book Thief Book Review”

• Pingback: The Sense of an Ending Book Review - The Literary Edit

I love these types of books, and I might decide to read “The Book Thief” because I am certain that its message will stick with me for ages to come.

I am an author myself, and I published my first novel when I was fourteen. I wrote the novel when I was twelve. I am now fifteen and I am continuing to purpose my goals and dreams as a writer, my ultimate goal is to share my stories with the world.

Here’s a link to my book: https://www.amazon.com/Noah-Tone-Plague-Powers-Cotter/dp/164628450X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15ELYN481LEDK&keywords=Noah+Tone+plague+of+powers&qid=1636305364&sprefix=noah+tone+plague+of+powers%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1

I highly recommend The Book Thief – it really is a wonderful book. And congratulations on writing your own – it’s quite a feat! xo

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BookBrowse Reviews The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Summary  |  Excerpt  |  Reading Guide  |  Reviews  |  Beyond the book  |  Read-Alikes  |  Genres & Themes  |  Author Bio

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

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An exceptionally readable, highly memorable novel. Older Teens & Adults

The Book Thief is an extraordinary, heartbreaking book.  Like The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time , which was initially targeted at young adults in Britain but to adults in the USA, The Book Thief is one of those rare books that really does speak to both young and old alike.  The excerpt that you can read at BookBrowse doesn't do this exceptionally readable, highly memorable book justice.  It's not so much that it's not representative of the book, but more that the style of writing grows on one to the point that the prose ends up reading almost like poetry.  Take, for example, this single sentence from the middle of the book when Liesel is reading aloud in the shelter during an air-raid:

"She didn't dare to look up, but she could feel their frightened eyes hanging on to her as she hauled the words in and breathed them out.  A voice played the notes inside her.  This, it said, is your accordion."

The Book Thief was one of the first two books offered to members as part of our First Impressions program.  Fifteen of the twenty members given a copy have submitted reviews so far.  13 rated it 5 out of 5, two gave it a 4 out of 5.  Here are a handful of the many excellent reviews we received: "Exceptional, captivating, heartwarming... so many words to describe how excellent I found The Book Thief . One needs Liesel's "words" to describe the many emotions provoked by this wonderful story. The characterizations are outstanding. Each character has their own special quality to regard. I highly recommend The Book Thief . And have already done so! " - Lisa. " The Book Thief challenges our humanity & inhumanity. This is a must read for book clubs!" - Ann. "Fabulous. Insightful. Heartbreaking. Full of hope for the future of that era. A testimonial for the indestructible human spirit. Quite truthful historically as well as in terms of human suffering during that war. I know this because I was there." - Gunta. "I have read the book twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. I was originally a little concerned as to how I would feel about Death as the narrator but found him to be a compassionate, likable character. Instead of spoiling the story, his telling of events in advance seemed to soften the impact, resulting in a thoughtful, powerful and sweet story rather than a thriller. I continue to recommend this book to everyone I know." - Joe.

More member reviews of The Book Thief Reviewed Sept 2007

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief

Author:  Markus Zusak

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Genre:  Historical Fiction

First Publication: 2005

Language:  English

Major Characters: Liesel Meminger, Death, Hans Hubermann, Max Vandenburg, Rudy Steiner, Ilsa Hermann

Setting Place: Fictional town of Molching, Germany, 1939-1943

Narration: First person omniscient, with Death as the narrator

Theme: Death, literacy and power, love and hate in human nature, acts of horror and torment during holocaust

Book Summary: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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.

Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Having Death as the narrator and having as a central protagonist a young girl in Nazi Germany make The Book Thief by Markus Zusak stand out from the crowd of books about Europe during World War II ; this book is good not so much because of the story, but how the author tells it.

In the Book Thief by Markus Zusak, author uses a rich, multi-layered blend of allegory, metaphor and symbolism to create amidst the dirt and depression of Germany during the late 30s and 40s a stark vision of historical and philosophical thoughtfulness. This international best seller features a healthy sense of dramatic irony, with the German setting and the strong use of script-like construction becoming reminiscent, especially the sympathetic depiction of Marxists.

Yes, often, I am reminded of her, and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her story to retell. It is one of the small legion I carry, each one extraordinary in its own right. Each one an attempt – an immense leap of an attempt – to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.

By using a surreal personification as a narrator, the author has softened the blow of the harsh setting and thus, incredibly, makes the characters more accessible and makes the reader approach an empathy with them that may otherwise be unavailable. I am reminded of Anthony Burgess’ comments about A Clockwork Orange and how he created the Nadsat language not just to add depth to his narration, but also to minimize the brutality of his story. In much the same way, Zusak has used Death as a narrator to ironically assuage the viciousness of the everyday life that Liesel and the Hubermanns experience in their quiet section of Nazi extremism.

“A small but noteworthy note. I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.” – Death

Death is not just a narrator but also one of the characters. Telling a story from his vantage, about a group of Germans on Himmel (Heaven) Street amidst the moral flagellation of the Third Reich Zusak creates a fecundity of symbolic structure. I found myself getting lost in metaphoric possibilities. What did he mean by that? What could that symbolize? Yet the author does not over generalize or make universal declarations, his approach is far more subtle, and again Brechtian in it’s demystification for dramatic realism; the reader comes to know Liesel Meminger , not as an ultra-real snapshot, nor as a idealized German every girl, but as an actress in a play, knowable and probable, but still a dramatic portrayal.

Through the eyes of Death, Liesel enters from stage left and we follow her through stereotypical misadventures made hackneyed in the World War II genre, but also through the good, the bad, and the ugly that is histrionic enough to be believable and understandable as an expression of real life during Nazi Germany.

“The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.”

This is still, though, after all, a representative portrayal of an ugly time. The reader should not look for a Disney moment, there are few. Zusak peppers his chronicle with some scenes of comic relief, but he never lets you forget when and where the action takes place. Expectations of Hollywood commercial breaks will come and go unnoticed on this trip; and all to the credit of its creator, who has crafted that most rare of accomplishments: a commercial success and at the same time an artistic expression.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a very singular literary experience and an enjoyable journey with a young writer from whom we have much to expect.

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Review: The Book Thief 

The Book Thief , written by Markus Zusak, has been regarded by many critics as a future classic. The novel, originally published in 2005, has become an international bestseller, selling over 16 million copies, translated into 63 different languages, and even being adapted into a feature film in 2013. The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel which begins in 1938, at the start of the Second World War, and follows the story of a young girl, Liesel, who becomes orphaned. On her way to Germany her younger brother dies, an event which haunts her throughout the novel, and she steals her first book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook . When she arrives at her new home in Nazi Germany, she is fostered by Hans and Rosa Hubermann and suddenly has a new mother and father. Hans learns Liesel cannot read, so he teaches her the wonders of written language to try and help her process her brother’s death. Liesel’s love of books leads her to steal books from dangerous places such as Nazi bonfires and the mayor’s house, as her foster parents are too poor to buy more books. Though her parents are very poor, they secretly shelter a Jewish man whose father saved Han’s life, making their situation even more precarious.  

The story is told by Death, who is our guide and narrator. Death becomes a character the reader comes to respect and even feel sorry for by the end of the story. Death is a very human and nuanced character, especially in comparison to many of the antagonist Nazi characters depicted within the book. He is not the Grim Reaper character that is usually seen in stories. For example, Death experiences both joy and sadness in the novel; he even gets depressed at the idea of the amount of unfair Jewish deaths occurring. Death becomes a character we do not blame; instead, he seems like a poor person who has a never-ending, terrible job. Like many humans, Death is trying to justify his work and does this by collecting stories of courageous humans such as Liesel. He retells these stories to ‘prove [to himself] that you, and your human existence, are worth it’ – this seems like a very human need. However, Death is always separate from humans, as he has a kind of omnipotence that he wields, due to the fact that he controls their deaths. Using Death as a narrator sets this story apart as it adds an odd and at times philosophical perspective to the story. Death is in an unlucky position of having human-like emotions but being separate from humanity, which allows him to tell stories in a new, interesting way.  

One of the other striking features of the book is the way in which it shows that so many types of people in Germany became victims of the war. It is a well-balanced story which shows the perspectives of German people during the war, from truly committed Nazis, to those against the whole Nazi regime like Hans Huberman. This is done very well, although it should be noted that Zusak is not an apologist, but rather is able to give the reader a glimpse into the human psyche. The book also does a beautiful job at showing problems in Nazi Germany that go beyond the war. For example, Rudy Steiner is a close friend of Liesel who is obsessed with the Black athlete Jesse Owens. His support of this athlete highlights the widespread racism of the time, as he is constantly bashed for his support of Owens, even though Owens inspires him to be the best athlete in the Hitler Youth. Another character whose worries show the minutiae of everyday German life is Isla Hermann, the mayor’s wife, who, while she is financially secure and popular in society, cannot get out of the depression caused by the loss of her son during the First World War. These examples help to make the characters feel more real and relatable, while highlighting other troubling issues that occurred in Nazi Germany. It is the way in which Zusak combines terrible events – such as the Munich Bombing and the offering of bread from a teenage boy to a starving Jew – with believable characters and scenes of everyday life that makes the book so impressive.  

The Book Thief is written for a young adult audience, another component which makes the book so refreshing. It deals with very serious themes instead of the cookie-cutter romances and fantasies which flooded the young adult market during the early twenty-first century. Such a unique and insightful book set within an important historical setting makes it a read I would recommend to anyone, although I would consider it most appropriate for those over the age of thirteen considering the heavy themes present throughout. 

Written by Sophia Aiello 

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Book Review

The book thief.

• Markus Zusak

Readability Age Range

• Alfred A. Knopf Publishing, a division of Random House Publishing
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007; School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 2006; Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2007

Year Published

This review was created by the editorial staff at Thriving Family magazine

This historical novel by Markus Zusak is published by Alfred A. Knopf Publishing, a division of Random House Publishing. It is written for ages 12 and up. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness.

Plot Summary

Death, the narrator of this book, first meets Liesel Meminger in 1939 as she, her little brother and her mother travel on a train. Death has come to take the soul of her sick brother. Although few humans interest him enough to stay nearby once his task is done, 9-year-old Liesel intrigues him. He watches as she mourns at her brother’s graveside and steals a book that falls from a gravedigger’s pocket. It is through Death’s words that we become voyeurs into Liesel’s life over the next four years.

Liesel’s mother accompanies her to a foster home in Molching, Germany, where she gives the girl into the care of Hans Hubermann, a housepainter, and his wife, Rosa. Grieving the death of her brother and the loss of her mother, Liesel takes time to adapt to her new surroundings. It is Hans’ gentle care and accordion playing that eventually softens the girl’s heart. She ultimately comes to call Hans and Rosa Papa and Mama . Hans discovers Liesel’s first literary theft, The Gravedigger’s Handbook , under her mattress. He uses it to help her improve her reading.

Liesel’s days are spent struggling to catch up in school, playing soccer with Rudy Steiner (her best friend) and the other children in her neighborhood, helping Rosa deliver laundry to her customers throughout Molching and reading with Hans at night when recurring nightmares wake her. Two years later, when the local Nazi party sponsors a book burning, Liesel steals her second book from the smoldering pile of banned stories. When Hans discovers the book, he doesn’t punish her. Instead he promises to keep her secret if she promises to keep his secrets.

Their quiet life is altered when Max Vandenburg arrives and asks if Hans still plays the accordion. Max is the son of Erik Vandenburg, who served in the same company as Hans during Word War I. Erik was a Jewish musician who brought an accordion with him and taught Hans how to play. Erik also volunteered Hans to stay behind from battle one day in order to help a captain write some letters. The rest of the platoon was killed. The only reminder Hans has of his friend is the accordion he left behind.

After the war, Hans visited Erik’s widow and vowed to help her if ever she needed anything. Years later, Erik’s son Max, weary and tired from months of hiding from the Nazi party, arrives at Hans’ door to see if Hans will keep his word.

Despite the danger, Hans and Rosa take in Max, arranging a hiding place for him in their basement behind paint cans. The only time Hans speaks harshly to Liesel is when he explains the need for her absolute silence regarding their houseguest. She may not tell anyone, not even her best friend, Rudy, about Max, or her foster parents will be taken away and she would have to live with a new family. Liesel agrees. At first she is frightened of the young man who only comes out of the basement at night; but eventually Liesel learns that she and Max have much in common.

Both have lost their families, both owe their lives to the Hubermanns and both suffer recurring nightmares. As a thank you for Liesel’s kindness, Max takes the pages of Mein Kampf , ironically the book in which he hid the train tickets that brought him to Molching, and paints the pages. He uses paint to tell his story, a story of a frightened man who finds friendship and acceptance from a young girl. He gives the book to Liesel as a belated birthday present.

Liesel continues to keep their Jewish houseguest a secret from her friends. She also keeps aspects of her “outside” life secret from her family. She and Rudy have gone with some older boys to steal fruit from a local orchard. The act of thievery not only alleviates their hunger, but also gives a sense of control in a world that seems to be spinning into chaos.

Liesel also has developed a friendship, of sorts, with the mayor’s wife, Mrs. Hermann. She is a silent woman, who still grieves the loss of her only child. When Liesel goes to the mayor’s house to pick up and deliver the laundry, his wife allows the girl to visit their library and read their books.

After the mayor fires Rosa, Liesel and Rudy decide to break into the house and steal from them. Rudy wants Liesel to steal food and cigarettes, but Liesel only takes a book from the library, falsely claiming that she heard someone coming down the stairs before she could steal more. They visit the house several more times, and Liesel comes to realize the mayor’s wife knows of their thievery, to the point that she actually aids them by leaving the library window open and cookies on the mayor’s desk.

One day, as Liesel is outside playing soccer with the neighborhood children, she sees Nazi officers knocking on doors and entering houses. They are searching basements, looking for possible air raid shelters because the Allied bombings are coming closer. Liesel fears if they go into her basement, they will find Max. She makes a spectacular save as goalie so that she can fall and cut her knee, giving her an excuse to go home and warn her family. But even with her bravery, there is no time to hide Max. As the officers measure the basement, the family waits in terror. To their astonishment, their simple wall of old paint cans and a tarp keep Max hidden from view. Their basement is deemed too shallow for an air raid shelter, and the Nazis move on.

As the war nears Molching, air raid sirens often wake the family. Unable to bring Max to safety, they have to leave him behind while they go down the street to a neighbor’s basement to wait out the bombing. Liesel brings her collection of books with her: the three she stole and the few that were gifts. She calms the children’s fears by reading aloud while the bombs explode. Max takes the opportunity to leave the relative safety of the basement and look out the open kitchen windows while the rest of the neighborhood hides. It is his only chance to see the sky.

One day, a caravan carrying Jews to a nearby concentration camp decides to have their “cargo” walk to the camp rather than ride the rest of the way, hoping that a few of the starving men will die on the way. As the prisoners are marched through town, Hans is overwhelmed with compassion for the emaciated men. He offers a piece of bread to one old man who falls to Hans’ feet in gratitude. But before he can eat the food, a Nazi officer whips him and Hans. As Liesel helps him home, they realize that the Nazis will probably return to further punish Hans. Fearing that Max will be discovered because of Hans’ actions, they give their friend some extra food and blankets and tell him to wait on the edge of town for four days. By then, any Nazi retribution should have been paid and Hans, if he’s not been sent away, will bring Max home.

When Hans returns for Max, all he finds is an unaddressed, unsigned note saying that he’s done enough. Hans grieves the loss of Max and wonders what will happen to him. He longs for some kind of punishment, and it eventually arrives. He’s been inducted into the Nazi Party and called up to serve in the army. Rudy’s father is also called up as punishment for refusing to send Rudy to a special Nazi school where his athletic abilities and intelligence could be exploited by the government.

Rosa and Liesel mourn Hans’ absence. When another group of Jews is forced to march through town, Rudy convinces Liesel to help him defy the Nazis as Hans had done. They take a bag of bread and bike ahead to place pieces on the road. Before the Nazis realize what has happened, the prisoners snatch up the bread. Liesel watches the Jews’ faces, both afraid and hopeful that she will see Max, but he is not there.

Hans is assigned to a patrol whose primary duty is to clean up debris and bodies after Allied air raids. The sights he sees are haunting and devastating. He is saved from death when another soldier, angry because Hans beat him at cards, insists on taking Hans’ seat on the patrol truck. When a tire blows and the truck overturns, the other soldier is killed. Hans survives the accident with only a broken leg. He is sent home to Molching.

Another group of Jews is paraded through town. This time, Liesel sees Max. She weaves her way toward him, and they fall into each other’s arms. A soldier tears her away, but Liesel reenters the crowd. She calls out to Max, reciting words to the book he’d written for her. Both Liesel and Max are whipped for their actions. Max manages to get up and continue on his march. Liesel runs after him again, but Rudy knocks her down before the soldiers return to beat her. In her anger, Liesel attacks Rudy. He takes her abuse, knowing that there is something more going on. Several days later, Liesel swears Rudy to secrecy and tells him about her friendship with Max and how he’d lived in her family’s basement.

Liesel is distraught from her encounter with Max. She realizes that words have caused this hatred and the war around her. Hitler’s words inspired the people of Germany to annihilate the Jews. His words cast them into the war. In a fit of rage, she sneaks into the mayor’s house and tears apart several books, shredding the pages, the words, into pieces. Her anger spent, she writes a note to Mrs. Hermann, explaining her actions and apologizing. As punishment, she will never return to the library to steal or even read books. Several days later, Mrs. Hermann knocks on Liesel’s door. Instead of being angry, she gives Liesel a journal. The mayor’s wife tells her not to punish herself, but if she isn’t going to read anymore, she should write, because she is gifted.

Mrs. Hermann’s gift saves Liesel’s life. The girl takes the book into the basement at night to write the story of her life. She titles it, The Book Thief . Liesel finishes it within a month and is in the basement re-reading her work when the bombs fall on Molching. Due to human error, the air raid sirens don’t sound. The world as Liesel knows it is blown apart. In a twist of fate, she survives in a basement the Nazis have said was too shallow.

After soldiers dig her out, Liesel scours the street for those she loves. She finds Rudy’s body and finally gives him the kiss he always begged her for. Stumbling back toward her house, she finds the bodies of Rosa and Hans. The soldiers take her to the police station where Mrs. Hermann picks her up. The mayor and his wife become her new guardians. It is that night that Death rescues Liesel’s journal, The Book Thief , from a pile of garbage and comes to know more about the soul that has so intrigued him over the years.

In the final chapter, Death explains that he collected Liesel’s soul the previous day, many years after the events in Molching. She lived to be an old woman with a loving family. In her last visions, she saw not only them and the people in Molching, but also a few memories of the past that Death had not seen before, including her reunion with Max after the liberation of Dachau. Death takes Liesel’s soul back to Molching so he can sit with her a moment and show her the book he’s carried all these years. She asks if he ever read it, and he admits he’s read it several times. When she asks if he understood it, he confesses there’s only thing he knows for sure about human beings: They haunt him.

Christian Beliefs

The Hubermanns and Liesel celebrate Christmas with the giving of gifts. Rosa prays while the Nazis measure the basement and every night while Hans is away serving in the army. Liesel prays for God to protect Max when he leaves their home.

Other Belief Systems

Although Max is Jewish, little is said of his faith. The character of Death is presented as a supernatural, but tired, being. He speaks of passing souls onto the conveyor belt of eternity. He never mentions a particular destination for the souls, but there is a sense that there is a place to which the souls are sent.

Authority Roles

Hans Hubermann is the epitome of kindness. Every night when Liesel wakes from her nightmares, Hans comforts her and sits by her side until she falls asleep. He is generous to everyone, often bartering his painting skills to people who can’t afford to pay cash. Although Rosa appears fierce and often insults people, her true nature is seen by her actions. She takes Liesel and Max into her home although food is scarce and harboring Max could send her to a concentration camp. She is often surly with Hans, but when he leaves for war, she sits in the kitchen, clutching his accordion and praying for him.

Profanity & Violence

There is much swearing laced throughout the dialogue including h—, d–n, d—mit, s— , and b–tard. A– is said alone and with hole and scratcher . The German word for a–hole is also used. God’s name is used with thank, sake, d–n and oh my . Jesus’ name is used as an exclamation with Mary and Joseph . The name of Christ is used with the words sake and crucified . Other objectionable words include whore, stupid and penis . Rosa calls Liesel Saumench , which means “filthy, little pig.” She often calls Hans Saukerl , which is a male pig. Liesel picks up her foster mother’s language.

The story takes place during World War II, so Death often speaks of the violence he sees as he takes the souls of those killed. When Max watches his beloved uncle die quietly from disease, he vows that Death won’t take him without a fight. He starts fighting for sport in his neighborhood. A couple of his fights are graphically described. Later, in the Hubermanns’ basement, he dreams of boxing Hitler. When he defeats the Fuhrer, he dreams that the audience climbs inside the ring to beat him. Liesel beats up a boy in her school who calls her stupid.

As Liesel grows up, she and Rudy have many scuffles with other children and older teenagers. A neighbor commits suicide by hanging himself. The Nazis whip Hans and the Jewish man he tried to feed. Soldiers beat Liesel and Max. The bombing of Munching is heartbreaking and graphically depicted. Liesel finds the bodies of Rudy, Rosa and Hans and says a gut-wrenching goodbye to each of them.

Sexual Content

From their earliest days as friends, Rudy begs Liesel for a kiss, but she doesn’t give him one while he’s alive. When she finds his broken body after the bombing, she kisses him.

Discussion Topics

If your children have read this book or someone has read it to them, consider these discussion topics:

• There is an old saying, “Actions speak louder than words.”
• How do Rosa’s actions say what her words do not?
• How does Hans use his words and actions?

Do you let your words or actions speak for you? Explain.

Death can’t understand how human beings can be so beautiful and yet so ugly.

• What did Death see as beautiful?
• What did he see as ugly?
• Read Romans 7:21-25.

What does the apostle Paul say on the subject?

Hans, Liesel and Max struggle with feelings of guilt.

• How does guilt affect Hans? Liesel? Max?
• What does it motivate each of them to do?
• Have you ever suffered a guilty conscience?

What does God want us to do with our guilt? (See Philippians 3:13-14 and 1 Timothy 1:12-17.)

Hans is called a coward for not belonging to the Nazi party and defending Germany.

• Was Hans a coward?
• What actions prove him otherwise?

What are some ways that you may be called on to be brave in our society?

Liesel comes to realize that words are a powerful tool that can be used for good or evil.

• How are words used for good in this book?
• How are they used for evil?
• Think about our society.
• How do you think the media use words to sway people to certain opinions?
• Do you think words still have as much impact today?

Additional Comments

Smoking: Hans rolls his own cigarettes and teaches Liesel how to roll them, too.

Gossip: Rosa likes to gossip with the neighbors.

Drinking: Hans plays his accordion in the bars. He and Rudy’s father get drunk the night before they have to report to the army. Hans gives Liesel a glass of champagne.

Gambling: Hans and the other men in his platoon play cards for cigarettes.

Movie tie-in: Producers often use a book as a springboard for a movie idea or to earn a specific rating. Because of this, a movie may differ from the novel. To better understand how this book and the movie differ, compare the book review with Plugged In’s movie review for The Book Thief .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and world-views of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. A book’s inclusion does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

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The Book Thief review – assured and courageous musical adaptation of global bestseller

Octagon theatre, Bolton The paean to the power of the printed word loses none of its earnest intent in a deft and tremendously delivered production adapted by author Jodi Picoult

W hen Liesel Meminger enters her neighbour’s library, the books flutter above her like doves. As the crisp white pages shimmer on the shelves, the girl breaks into song – a number called In This Book. It is an example of how seriously this adaptation of Markus Zusak’s magnificent bestseller takes one of the author’s central themes: the power of the printed word.

It is a power that can be used for evil, as it was with every copy of Mein Kampf sold to a population bewitched by Adolf Hitler. And, of course, it is a power that can be used for good.

That is the case for Max Vandenberg, a fleeing Jew whose escape plan is concealed in a copy of Hitler’s book. And it is repeatedly the case for teenage Liesel, the eponymous book thief, for whom stories are an imaginative release, a solace in air raids and a tool of resistance. Serious and acerbic, Bea Glancy (alternating with Niamh Palmer) is tremendous in the role of a child dealt the toughest of hands in the hardest of times.

To tell such a story as a musical is demanding. The slate-grey set by design studio Good Teeth never gets warmer than a muddy sepia. The lighting by Nic Farman is severe. Ryan O’Donnell’s narrator might look like a genial insurance salesman in tie and raincoat, but he is Death in disguise. As miserable lines of prisoners head to Dachau, we know it cannot end well.

There are times when you feel the pull of Broadway in the score by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, but more typically, they draw deftly on Zusak’s original to push the story forward. Their songs can be sweet and harmonic but never less than earnest.

The libretto by Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald also sticks closely to the author’s language and intent, although skipping through so much of the book in the first half makes the second half less focused. Not so, though, in the final moving moments of Lotte Wakeham’s excellent production, assured and courageous, when this grim tale reaches something like a happy ending.

• Jodi Picoult

Most viewed

The Book Thief

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

If there can be such a thing as a sweet, reflective fable about death and the Holocaust, The Book Thief is it. Based on the bestseller by Markus Zusak, the film tells the story of Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse), a young girl left in the care of foster parents Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush) and his strict laundress wife, Rosa (Emily Watson). It’s gentle Hans who teaches the illiterate Liesel how to read. Since the story is set in Nazi Germany, you can see what’s coming when good Christian Hans takes in Max Vandenburg (Ben Schnetzer), a Jewish boy whose father saved Hans during World War I. Hidden in the basement (a distinct allusion to Anne Frank’s attic), Max is read to by Liesel, who steals books from the library of a local bürgermeister. A bond grows, and some valuable and scary life lessons are learned.

The simplicity of Michael Petroni’s script seems a drawback at first. But skilled director Brian Percival ( Downton Abbey ) slowly, effectively tightens the vise as evil intrudes into the life of this child. Rush, an actor of unerring grace and grit, gives a touching, vital performance. He doesn’t shout. Neither does the film. Its grieving heart is never in question.

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The book thief, common sense media reviewers.

Emotional WWII drama explores loss, literacy, and love.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The movie, as with the book, has positive messages

Liesel is curious, kind, and willing to work hard

The violence ranges from the deaths of various cha

Rudy repeatedly asks for a kiss, and by the end of

Insults are used, but sometimes as terms of endear

One shot of an Apple computer and logo in the clos

Some adults smoke cigarettes.

Parents need to know that The Book Thief is a historical drama set in WWII Germany based on the bestselling young-adult novel by Australian author Markus Zusak. There are many scenes of violence, from the way the Nazis treat Jews, to schoolyard fights, to recurring bomb threats. There are many character…

Positive Messages

The movie, as with the book, has positive messages about the power of literacy and books; the importance of unconditional friendship; the relationship between parents and children; and the necessity of standing up for other people in need. The presence of Death also encourages the viewer not to squander their lives, because you never know when the end will arrive.

Positive Role Models

Liesel is curious, kind, and willing to work hard to learn how to read. Liesel's foster father Hans is patient, loving, and kind. He helps out Max when it would be much easier to denounce him, and he resists getting involved with the Nazi Party, even though it's the ruling government. Rosa comes off as harsh, but she does love Hans and Liesel and shows it in her own way. Rudy Steiner defends and protects Liesel.

Violence & Scariness

The violence ranges from the deaths of various characters to scenes of Nazis terrorizing Jews in front of their homes and businesses and other occasions. Every scene with a Nazi officer is fraught with anxiety, and the character deaths (or near deaths) will upset even adult viewers. There are also a couple of scenes of schoolyard bullying and fights. During a couple of bombing raids, the entire town evacuates and is worried, anxious and afraid. A Nazi officer strikes Liesel and then Hans.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Rudy repeatedly asks for a kiss, and by the end of the movie, when Rudy and Liesel are about 14, it's clear they have feelings for each other. One kiss.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insults are used, but sometimes as terms of endearment and usually in German, like the expletives "Saumensch" and "Saukerl" ("dirty swine"), "Arschloch" ("a--hole"). Rosa often uses insults: "good-for-nothing"; "dreckigs" ("dirty"); "know-nothing," "stupid," and "idiot."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

One shot of an Apple computer and logo in the closing scene.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Book Thief is a historical drama set in WWII Germany based on the bestselling young-adult novel by Australian author Markus Zusak . There are many scenes of violence, from the way the Nazis treat Jews, to schoolyard fights, to recurring bomb threats. There are many character deaths and near-deaths that will affect even the most jaded of viewers, though there's almost no blood and zero gore. Language includes German insults that translate to "a--hole" and "dirty swine" as well as "stupid" and "idiot." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (19)
• Kids say (68)

Based on 19 parent reviews

Beauty and light in the face of darkness

You might have to explain some words to your children, what's the story.

THE BOOK THIEF, like the book on which it's based, is narrated by Death (Roger Allam), who explains that he rarely cares about the stories of the living, with the exception of young Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nelisse). In 1938, Liesel is shown on a train with her frightened mother (rumored to be a Communist) and sick little brother, who dies before they reach their small town destination. At his impromptu funeral, Liesel steals The Gravedigger's Handbook as a memento. She's soon delivered to childless foster parents, gentle painter Hans ( Geoffrey Rush ) and abrasive laundress Rosa ( Emily Watson ). At home, Hans discovers the book and begins to teach Liesel how to read, and at school, Liesel befriends her neighbor, the fast-running Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch). Liesel's life changes even more when Hans and Rosa agree to hide a young Jewish man, Max (Ben Schnetzer), in their basement. Liesel, now a voracious reader, forms a sweet secret friendship with Max -- but as the war progresses, all of them are put in danger again and again.

Is It Any Good?

The film may not steal your heart quite as powerfully as Zusak's novel, but it is faithful enough to show moviegoers why the characters are so beloved. Take Rudy, he's a "boy with hair the color of lemons" who doesn't care that his Olympic idol Jesse Owens is black -- he just wants to run fast and convince Liesel to give him a kiss. Then there's Max, who shows Liesel how to resist hate, and who paints over the pages of Mein Kampf to give Liesel a place for her words. And class actors Rush and Watson are fabulous as the bickering but loving Hubermanns, who really love their new daughter. This is a movie that will make you cry, make you laugh, and make you hold your books close to your heart.

Markus Zusak 's novel is unforgettable: How many books are narrated by Death? The movie doesn't pull off the Death narration quite as seamlessly as the novel (plus, Allam's voice is stereotypically deep and knowing), but the at-times heartbreaking story will still resonate with viewers, who will grow to love young plucky Liesel. Nelisse is lovely as the curious Liesel, who despite losing her entire immediate family, is open to love -- whether it's from her parents, her new friend Max, or her best friend Rudy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the importance of literacy and books. How does learning to read change Liesel's life? Why does she "steal" books? How can books make an impact on even a horrible situation?

What makes a movie or a book "young adult" -- the age of the protagonist, the intended audience, or something else?

How is this movie different from others about WWII? Do you believe there were Germans who weren't fond of the Nazi regime or of Hitler's anti-semitic laws?

In the movie, like the book, Death is the narrator, but he doesn't reveal things the same way. What did you think of the narrator in the movie? For those who've read the book, did you like and understand the changes between the page and screen versions?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 8, 2013
• On DVD or streaming : March 11, 2014
• Cast : Emily Watson , Geoffrey Rush , Sophie Nelisse
• Director : Brian Percival
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Book Characters , Friendship , History
• Run time : 125 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some violence and intense depiction of thematic material
• Last updated : March 12, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the book thief.

Now streaming on:

Has the use of Nazis in movies reached the point of being pornographic? While some observers might say that line was crossed long ago, others may find that conclusive proof arrives in Brian Percival's "The Book Thief," based on an international bestseller that The New York Times jibed as "Harry Potter and the Holocaust." Here, of course, the kind of pornography that's meant isn't erotic (there are only coy glimmers of that) but sentimental – historic horror enlisted in the cause of facile fantasy.

If you go to a bookstore looking for Markus Zusak's novel, the movie's source, you're likely be directed to the Young Adult or Teen Fiction sections, which explains a lot about the movie's appeal, and lack thereof. Like a kid-friendly mulch of elements cribbed from "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "Slaughterhouse-Five," the film conceivably could play well to an audience of 12-year-olds and their grandparents. Other adults, though, are more apt to find the proceedings an occasion for fits of squirming and eye-rolling.

This is the movie, after all, that's narrated by Death, a device that you can imagine possibly working in a Hollywood film of the '30s or '40s, but hardly since. What's the Grim Reaper doing here, besides nudging along the exposition and dropping ironic bon mots? Obviously, he serves a purpose much akin to that of the movie's impeccably costumed but barely differentiated Nazis: to attempt giving some thematic ballast to a tale so wispy and ungrounded that otherwise it might float away.

The center of that fiction is Liesel ( Sophie Nelisse ), one of those spunky young heroines that keep the Young Adult industry afloat. When Death first introduces her, in 1938, she is on the run with a fugitive mother and a little brother who dies in the first scene. Soon after, Mom vanishes over the horizon and Liesel is taken in by a good-hearted provincial couple, kindly Hans ( Geoffrey Rush ) and crusty-but-lovable Rosa ( Emily Watson ). Was the girl's mom, as is hinted, a communist? Why would this couple, who barely have enough to eat, take in an unknown child to care for? Such are the questions the movie ignores as it gallops along to history's accelerating drumbeat.

Here's another: How is it that Liesel, mocked by her new schoolmates for being illiterate, quickly morphs not just into a reader but one so adept and voracious that she's soon swiping books from the local burgermeister's library? (This valorization of reading is a transparent come-on in many books aimed at young readers.) Whatever its source, her newfound passion is one she shares with Max ( Ben Schnetzer ), a young Jewish guy the kindly couple hide in their basement. And of course, the Nazis hate books, as they demonstrate by burning a heap in the town square.

Our heroine's bookishness, meanwhile, is mainly a source of bemusement to Rudy (Nico Liersh), the flaxen-haired neighbor boy who befriends and dotes on her. In a different, more reality-based movie, their relationship would be a coming-of-age romance. But though the characters here age from 13 to 17 during the story, at the end they look exactly like the barely pubescent kids they were when it started, and the troubling excitements of eros never arise.

That ostensibly strange fact is perhaps explained less by the obvious constraints of filming the same actors in a short production schedule than by the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too logic that guides so many fantasy narratives. In this realm, people supposedly grow up, yet at the same time remain magically innocent and unchanged. Likewise, history: the mean old Nazis hound Max and march sad-looking Jews down the street, but we never see what happens to those Jews—they remain vaguely wistful images divorced from the cruel reality of their corporeal fates.

While director Percival ("Downton Abbey") elicits estimable performances from his cast, especially Nelisse, Rush and Watson, the visible world he embeds them in looks like a set from an old studio movie or a '50s TV sitcom. Heaven Street, the provincial thoroughfare is called, and its airbrushed quaintness is as dreamily reassuring as John Williams' score, despite (or because of?) the heavily fetishized Nazi flags that seem to festoon every available inch of screen space.

In the end, there's a distinct air of solipsism to this tale. To be sure, bombs fall, death ensues, and Heaven Street briefly appears rather hellish. But Liesel undergoes no discernible transformation, and that seems to be the point: History may be awful, but a young heroine's spunkiness can overcome anything. Thus does actual tragedy get reduced to the role of kitschy backdrop, a transposition of true obscenity.

Godfrey Cheshire

Godfrey Cheshire is a film critic, journalist and filmmaker based in New York City. He has written for The New York Times, Variety, Film Comment, The Village Voice, Interview, Cineaste and other publications.

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The Book Thief (2013)

Rated PG-13

Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann

Emily Watson as Rosa Hubermann

Sophie Nélisse as Liesel Meminger

Ben Schnetzer as Max Vandenburg

Nico Liersch as Rudy Steiner

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Book Reviews

A 19th-century bookbinder struggles with race and identity in 'the library thief'.

Keishel Williams

The examination of race and identity can be seen throughout literature, and increasingly today.

In her debut novel, The Library Thief , Kuchenga Shenjé explores these concepts — and the associated expectations that arise when society demands that every group be neatly categorized. Shenjé delves into the past in this work of historical fiction, posing inquiries about Black people's lives in the Victorian era.

In this 19th-century English story, Florence, an ambitious bookbinder, is expelled from her family home by her harsh and unforgiving father for being with a young man. Florence, a clever and savvy woman, persuades Lord Francis Belfield to let her stay at Rose Hall manor by promising to restore the priceless books in his library in time for an impending sale, assuring him that she is just as skilled as her father. Among Lord Belfield's minimal staff, Florence stands out as an educated, liberal woman.

But Florence is not as polished as she wants her new acquaintances to believe. Being raised by a single father and not knowing her mother, whom she was told is dead, has fostered an emptiness in Florence she thought she could fill with books. She's adrift and feels unloved. This fragile foundation is fertile ground for the harrowing experiences Florence faces during her stay at the manor.

Florence arrives at Rose Hall to find that Lord Banfeild's wife has died, and the new widower is beside himself with grief. Immediately, Florence finds herself in the middle of a tightly woven plot of family secrets and lies that conveniently shroud the lives of the upper class. She becomes fixated on Lady Persephone's death and starts investigating suspicious activities around it. During her investigation, she uncovers some dark Banfield family secrets, which include violence, abuse, and "passing" family members. This journey of discovery forces Florence to confront her own identity and the mysteries surrounding her life.

Some characters in this novel intentionally or unintentionally pass as white because they find it easier than living as a Black person in Victorian England. While the topic of "passing" is frequently explored in literature set in the 1920s and 30s, Shenjé delves into what it means to be a Black person passing in the 19th century. She explores this theme in multiple ways: One character completely abandons their family to live as a white man, another maintains contact with her family but uses her husband's wealth and influence to hide in plain sight, and the third, and perhaps most intriguing, character lives as a white person without knowing they were actually Black.

Florence is uncertain about her own race, and she passionately advocates for the rights of Black people. She often becomes offended by the viewpoints of her friends, neighbors, and even their pastor towards Black people. Florence grew up in a white community and had limited interactions with Black people, other than through books until she met Lady Persephone's lady's maid — a beautiful, charming, and highly educated Black woman. "How could a whole sector of humanity once viewed as animals now be writing books and teaching universities and the like? We had been lied to," she says after a particularly awful sermon propagating the inferiority of African people.

At times, Shenjé's use of language attempting at inclusivity fails to achieve what appears to be the intended effect. The discussion of gender roles in a highly complex way seems forced and unrealistic. This is especially so when such language and philosophizing are attributed to certain characters in particular.

While The Library Thief doesn't exactly break new ground when it comes to exploring issues of race and identity, it does have some entertaining elements. Wesley is a standout character who should have received more attention. If a movie adaptation of the character were ever to happen, Patrick Walshe McBride would be an excellent choice to play the part. Shenjé also did an fantastic job planting hints throughout the story that lead to the main character's true identity. The best part of the book is the unexpected twist at the end that ties up the murder mystery. Kudos to Shenjé for that surprise ending.

Keishel Williams is a Trinidadian American book reviewer, arts & culture writer, and editor.

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The Book Thief Reviews

The film has its respectful essence, but lacks a bit of the spirit and entertainment value.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 16, 2024

For two hours I was a resident on that small town German street. I cared about the characters, laughed with them, and was pierced by the tragedies they endured.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

The Book Thief mixes British actors using German accents, a few German actors, and the occasional German word, creating a playfully successful illusion of German-ness. The story is tragic and captivating at the same time. Nélisse and Rush are outstanding.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 27, 2022

Laudably, The Book Thief 's main theme is the need to defend culture, a subject of the greatest urgency in the present political situation.

Full Review | Feb 27, 2021

Doesn't always trust the story to work on its own, so it wedges in a few too many big moments - and one egregious bit of product placement - but when it relies on the performances, it works.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 1, 2021

The film's real selling point proves to be the presence of Geoffrey Rush.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Sep 4, 2020

Impeccably acted and beautifully scripted, The Book Thief is an absorbing effort that captures everything that was so widely admired about the original novel. Co-stars Nico Liersch.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 4, 2020

The Book Thief has stolen my heart. To describe the film in a word, it's quite simply, magnificent.

Full Review | Jan 7, 2020

As it is, The Book Thief still finds its way into your heart slowly and over time, and it stays there way after leaving the theater.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 31, 2019

It may span the most significant decades of last century, but The Book Thief pretty much boils down to girl-lives-with-family, girl-learns-to-read - for two hours.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 8, 2019

Opening with a sweeping shot of a train racing on snow-covered tracks, a title card reads 'Germany, February 1938'. This kind of vagueness sets up a film that brushes past details in favour of a broad-strokes Nazi movie for the whole family.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 11, 2018

The film has essentially been commissioned on the say-so of pinot-guzzling, chick-lit-licking chocoholics, and it shows. Boy, it's dull and pointless.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 22, 2018

The film is hamstrung by the novel's structure, unsure whether to be a 12A-certificate family outing, or to luxuriate in morbid irony.

Full Review | Jan 2, 2018

While it may not be suitable for young children, The Book Thief may be one of the best films for families that will play through the holiday season.

Full Review | Nov 29, 2017

It's probably a little too modest for its potential Oscar goals, but it's a fine film nonetheless.

Full Review | Oct 20, 2017

The Book Thief manages to capture the horror of war and the tension of life in the Hubermann household, and there are moments that will shock those not familiar with the story.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 8, 2017

Ultimately not much more complex than the moment in which two children yell "I hate Hitler" across a lake, it imparts the message that Nazis are bad, books are good, and Geoffrey Rush would make a great dad even in WWII Germany

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 5, 2014

This extremely moving drama suggests the Holocaust story Ray Bradbury might have written: Events are seen through a child's eyes; books are shown to contain a healing, transformative power; and the supernatural is real, if symbolic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 24, 2014

Zusak's story is stirring, and it holds the film up during most of its predictable parts, but The Book Thief never rises too far above that. The narration from Death only serves to make it more like some sort of fantastical fairy tale.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 22, 2014

Regrettably this poignant and profound story, does not feel very poignant nor profound at all.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 10, 2014

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The Thief and the Historian (The Runetree Chronicles Book 1) Kindle Edition

• Reading age 12 - 18 years
• Book 1 of 3 The Runetree Chronicles
• Print length 207 pages
• Language English
• Publication date June 17, 2023
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• See all details

• In This Series
• Customers Also Enjoyed
• Science Fiction & Fantasy
• Sword & Sorcery

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C6CPJFR7
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zamiz Press (June 17, 2023)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 17, 2023
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 5612 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 207 pages
• #617 in Children's Sword & Sorcery Fantasy Books
• #648 in Teen & Young Adult Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks
• #948 in Teen & Young Adult Wizards & Witches Fantasy

About the author

Brendan corbett.

Brendan Corbett grew up in a military family, always on the move, living in North Carolina, Virginia, Rhode Island, and Okinawa, Japan all before he was ten. Books were both the foundation of stability and the ultimate escape, companions to other worlds that could journey with him even when friends could not. He has always been drawn to fiction and more particularly fantasy, offering the ability to travel in his mind when the traveling of his feet grew tiresome.

As an adult his career turned away from the arts. He worked in places ranging from job shops to plastics manufacturing to nonprofit operations. While these roles were fun and fulfilling in their own ways, through all these experiences he’s been driven to return to his love of writing.

He now resides in Oregon with his wife, son, and dog. While writing consumes much of his time, you may also find him at one of my many other pastimes - cooking, gardening, hiking, playing piano, building LEGO, attending a show, gaming, practicing archery, volunteering, or woodworking.

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