Book Review by Prompt Proofing: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

    VANCOUVER, BC, November 22, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Book Thief is considered a young adult novel but, while it could certainly be appreciated by older teens, it would be a grave mistake to dismiss it as a teen novel as it is also an excellent adult read. The heroine, Liesel, is taken to live with foster parents by her mother who is terminally ill and cannot afford medical treatment; her brother dies on the train journey and Liesel, illiterate at age ten, nonetheless steals a book - The Gravedigger's Handbook - from the scene of her brother's demise.

The story is narrated by Death, albeit a kind-hearted and caring Death, and covers the life of Liesel and her motley band of friends, family and neighbours as they attempt survival in Nazi Germany during WWII. Liesel lives with an apparently severe and shrewish, but actually warm-hearted, foster mother and a kindly, loving foster father who uses the stolen book to teach Liesel to read and to help her cope with the nightmares resulting from her brother's death. She befriends Rudy, a neighbour's son and then Max, a Jew who initially hides in Liesel's foster family's basement. The story has humour, tragedy and heartbreaking irony and is written with a poet's understanding of the beauty and power of words.

With Death as the narrator, the reader is occasionally given forewarning of what to expect in the future, so that we know, for example, of the impending death of a character some time before that death occurs. Strangely, this does not detract from the suspense - if anything, it increases it as we head inexorably towards a particular tragedy. While there are many tragic elements, the novel is not without hope and there is much to celebrate, even during the darkest times.

A beautiful story that is a 'must read' for anyone 14 or over.

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