From the Bookshelf of NHSLMA…

[close] With the release of the film adaptation in November 2013, a review of Markus Zusak’s award winning young adult novel from 2006 seems timely. Set in Germany during World War II, the story features Liesel Meminger, who is placed in foster care by her Communist mother who had to flee the Nazis. Tragically, her younger brother dies during the long train journey and it is during his grave service that she steals her first book, a most unusual title, The Gravediggers’s Companion: a twelve step guide to grave digging success published by the Bayern Cemetery Association. Her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann bring her into their home on Himmel Street in a German town located near Dachau. Rosa is a bit rough around the edges and slowly Liesel (and the reader) come to love her, but it is Hans to whom the young girl truly bonds. Having discovered her stolen book, Hans spends long hours teaching Liesel how to read on the nights she has woken up from her recurring nightmares. The story features Death as the all-knowing narrator (Director Brian Percival stays true to this voice in the film) who introduces the reader to a rich story of background details and cast of characters who become part of Liesel’s new life: among them, her friend Rudy, the mayor’s wife Ilsa Hermann from whom she steals books to read, and Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man her family hides in their cellar. While the novel weaves common themes of World War II into much of the story, but it does so with hard hitting emotional depth. In fact, one of the most consistent comments from the movie reviews is that the story is too sanitized and under-develops some of the most important plot lines from the original work.
Toward the end of the book, Liesel wrote, “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” Do yourself a favor and read the words first; THEN enjoy the movie.