This is the inaugural post in The Turn of the Page, a regular column in which eighth grader Anjali Gupta reviews books for the Middle School community.
Markus Zusak astonishes readers with this brilliantly plotted story set in Nazi Germany. The Book Thief is narrated by Death, a sympathetic, overworked being that tirelessly collects souls from bodies. Liesel Meminger, a simple orphan adopted by loving foster parents, is growing up in the dilapidated town of Molching. She is surrounded by signs of struggle, war, and–at times–hope. When her family hides a Jewish fugitive named Max, Liesel forms an unbreakable bond with the damaged young man and she and Max become close friends. After transforming the horrible Mein Kampf into a blank book, Max writes the story of his life in it, forging a magnificent connection with Liesel in the process. Liesel also becomes friends with her next door neighbor, Rudy Steiner, a boy with “hair the color of lemons” who idolizes the Olympic sprinter Jesse Owens.
When I read this book, I was visiting my grandparents. They didn’t see me for two days and one night; I was so engrossed. Nothing could have persuaded me to put this book down, not even the delicious wafting smell of my grandparents’ cooking food. When I flipped to the last page of the last chapter, I was devastated. I couldn’t help feeling that I could have read the book slower, or enjoyed it more, or even taken breaks in between my frenzied page-turning so it would have lasted at least a day longer. But, sadly, my exciting escape from the world was over, and back into reality I plunged.
This book altered my perspective of the Holocaust, as it takes place in Germany and centers on a German girl. Zusak artfully manipulates words into forming sentences, and from sentences he crafts paragraphs, and then he weaves an intricate plot like a tapestry of words. This book is a new classic, and I recommend it to everyone I meet. It is a treasure I cherish, as it is poetic masterpiece.
This was the first book that made me experience pleasure, pain, and excitement all at once. It was a book that made me cry. This book is a gift from Zusak, a glimpse into his thoughts. It has broadened my mind in so many dimensions, and I hope it will do the same for yours!