This is one of my all time favorite books. Sad enough to break your heart and beautiful enough to take your breath away. This novel should be read by everyone, by law, in my opinion. If I was to crash on a deserted island, this would be one of the top ten books I would want to have with me.
Set during World War 2, and narrated by death, who, as you can imagine is quite busy. This is the story of Liesel. After the death of her little brother, Liesel arrives at the home of her new foster parents, Hans and Rosa , on the outskirts of Munich. Liesel also befriends a young boy near her age named Rudy and they become the best of friends.
As a young girl, Liesel is horrified by the Nazi regime, and as the situation in her town becomes even more dire, her foster parents take in and hides a young Jewish fighter named Max.
Liesel has been taught by Hans to read and has she fallen in love with stories and understand the power of books. She begins secretly stealing books from the wealthy wife of the mayor, sneaking into her library and bringing books home to read to Max. She also begins to write her own manuscript.
When Hans sees a parade of starving Jews paraded through town, Hans can't help himself and offers one of these men who is near death, a single piece of bread. As punishment for this act of kindness, Hans is drafted to work for the Nazis. Later he returns home and Max leaves in order to save the family from further danger.
Years later, in 1945, Liesel works in the tailor shop and tells how the bombs fell on her city, killing Rudy and every one of her friends and family. She is surprised and overjoyed when one day, out of the blue, Max wanders in to the shop.
I am not able to do this amazing novel justice in my summary.
I'll just say it is a work of absolute and total brilliance and you should read it. Right now. Go.
Also made into a touching and well crafted movie, but as we all know, the book is always better.
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