false 5 0 false false Thu Jul 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 23:43:33 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 23:01:29 -0700 2009 You are going to die.

And with that, our narrator—Death—introduces himself and less than maybe 30 words into the book, I know it's going to be good. In fact, The Book Thief is easily my favorite read of the year, so far. The setting: Nazi Germany. The key characters: a foster family who takes in a very special girl (although she doesn't know it yet). The conflict: a desire to do what's right in a world turned so wrong. The writing: wonderful, comedic, dramatic, lyrical, terrible. Zusak refuses to let us turn away from the horror and destruction of the time but satisfies us with the smallest of moments that convey the biggest of victories, the strongest of wills, the sweetest of hearts.

The Book Thief sent me off researching Nazi Germany (particularly Hitler Youth) and I also read (as much as I could without throwing the book against the wall) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. I still want more. I'm still struggling to understand how a people could be taken for so long down such an awful path with such dire consequences. I'm also desperate to find more stories—true stories—of the humanity that hid from the whip and hammer of the Swastika.

I need more Liesels and her papa in my life.

Highly, highly, highly recommended.]]>