Mason’s Comments (group member since Oct 14, 2016)

Mason’s comments from the F 16 Junior English group.

The Book Thief is set in Nazi Germany, although with a special twist. This novel shows us the ensuing chaos through the looking glass of Death himself and upon his fascination with a young girl. Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new book and emotional heart wrencher is the story of Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl living in Germany around the worst time anyone could. Liesel fights to create and maintain for herself anything that would resemble a normal childhood. Liesel finds passion and solace in a criminal way, by stealing books. To her, books are doors to entirely new worlds, and an exit from her own painful reality. Luckily, her foster father Hans possesses a caring heart, and he teaches her to read. Throughout the book she shares her stolen books with neighbors whilst bunkered down in bomb shelters. Her books and eagerness to read touch one man in particular, a Jewish man hiding in her basement for survival. As Death would put it, “It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.” This novel is a great read and the first in a long while to engage me in an original and thought provoking way. Markus Zusak's novel comes highly recommended by me.