Liesel is on a train with her mother and brother being taken to stay with a foster family in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930s. Her brother dies on the way and during his burial, she sees a book "The Grave Digger's Handbook". She steals it and her life as a book thief in WWII Germany has begun. Her new papa comes and holds her every night when the nightmares of her brother's death wake her and somewhere in that time, he starts teaching her to read her stolen book. She meets the other kids on the street and Rudy becomes her best friend and partner in crime. In the years of the war, she steals a few more books, her family harbors a Jew in their basement, and she learns to love. Death watches her life unfold and when the bomb hits her house, he is there to find the book she lost, the one she wrote, The Tale of a Book Thief. He tells us her story.
I'd heard a lot of people saying what a great book this was but no one ever said anything about what the story line was so it was a surprise to me at the beginning. The choice of Death as the narrator was inspired considering what was going on all around the main story. It was well written, beautifully descriptive, and just a wonderful read. Highly recommend.
Page count: 550p/40,126p ytd
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