Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. the kind of book that can be life-changing.” It is 1939.

The Book Thief affirms the ability of books to feed the soul even in the bleakest of times in a story the New York Times described as “brilliant. Two award-winning modern classics from #1 New York Times bestselling author Markus Zusak! 10 Books to thank your favorite teacher.(Mar.Zusak, M: The Book Thief/I Am the Messenger Paperback Boxed Set – BookaliciousMY It's a measure of how successfully Zusak has humanized these characters that even though we know they are doomed, it's no less devastating when Death finally reaches them. As a storyteller, Death has a bad habit of forecasting ('I'm spoiling the ending,' he admits halfway through his tale). Death also directly addresses readers in frequent asides Zusak's playfulness with language leavens the horror and makes the theme even more resonant-words can save your life. This 'small story,' as Death calls it, threads together gem-like scenes of the fates of families in this tight community, and is punctuated by Max's affecting, primitive artwork rendered on painted-over pages from Mein Kampf His promise to repay that debt comes due when the man's son, Max, shows up on his doorstep. Hans is haunted himself, by the Jewish soldier who saved his life during WWI. Rosa Hubermann has a sharp tongue, but Hans has eyes 'made of kindness.' He helps Liesel overcome her nightmares by teaching her to read late at night. Liesel's father-a 'Kommunist'-is already missing when her mother hands her into the care of the Hubermanns. , found in a snowy cemetery after her little brother's funeral. Liesel Meminger, the book thief, is nine when she pockets The Gravedigger's Handbook ) works in miniature, focusing on the lives of ordinary Germans in a small town outside Munich. The narrator is Death himself, a companionable if sarcastic fellow, who travels the globe 'handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity.' Death keeps plenty busy during the course of this WWII tale, even though Zusak ( I Am the Messenger This hefty volume is an achievement-a challenging book in both length and subject, and best suited to sophisticated older readers.

The book thief i am the messenger