Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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This is the most extraordinary book I've read in quite some time. The narrator is Death. Death . . . as in Grim Reaper but without the cloak and scythe. It's set in World War II Germany. A young girl is travelling with her mother and brother on a train. The brother is terribly ill and passes away right there next to his sister. When Death comes to take his soul, he sees the sister and becomes captivated with her. Then he does what he knows better not to do, he feels something for her and he starts following her around.
He follows her to the grave of her brother where she steals her first book, to her foster family, follows them as they hide a Jew in their home, and as she steals book after book from a woman who, truth be told, really wants her to have them.
Not only is the plot fascinating, but the language, like this: "Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day. That was the business of hiding a Jew."
This novel is classified as young adult fiction, but I don't understand that grouping. I found it as stimulating as any adult fiction title I've ever read. In fact, I worry a little about the intensity of the subject matter for youth. It's listed as 9th grade and up. I give a hearty recommendation to this rare and poetic novel, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
