It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
Add to your library to track progress and write reviews
Add to your library to track progress and write reviews
Find The Book Thief Markus Zusak in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find The Book Thief Markus Zusak in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
1 books in catalog
Historical fiction and young adult literature gained one of their most distinct modern classics with the publication of The Book Thief, a novel set in Nazi-era Germany narrated by Death. Australian author Markus Zusak achieved international acclaim with this work, which was first released in 2005 and subsequently spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list while being translated into more than forty languages.
Born in Sydney in 1975 to an Austrian father and a German mother who emigrated to Australia in the late 1950s, Markus Frank Zusak grew up hearing stories of European wartime experience that deeply influenced his creative imagination. He attended Engadine High School, where he began writing fiction at sixteen and completed his first manuscript at eighteen. He went on to study English and history at the University of New South Wales, earning a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education before briefly working as a high school English teacher.
Zusak made his publishing debut in 1999 with The Underdog, the first entry in his trilogy about the Wolfe brothers, which was followed by Fighting Ruben Wolfe and When Dogs Cry (published in some markets as Getting the Girl). His 2002 novel The Messenger (also released as I Am the Messenger) earned wide critical recognition and won the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award. Following the worldwide success of The Book Thief in 2005, which was adapted into a 2013 feature film, Zusak released the multi-generational family novel Bridge of Clay and the non-fiction memoir Three Wild Dogs (and the truth). In 2014, he received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Zusak's writing is defined by its inventive narrative voice, rhythmic prose, and empathetic focus on ordinary individuals facing monumental personal or historical adversity. He regularly explores themes of brotherhood, loyalty, morality, and the resilience of the human spirit amidst hardship. By employing unexpected storytelling choices—such as placing a compassionate version of Death in the role of narrator in The Book Thief—he delivers a lyrical perspective on tragedy, memory, and the power of language.
1 books in catalog
Historical fiction and young adult literature gained one of their most distinct modern classics with the publication of The Book Thief, a novel set in Nazi-era Germany narrated by Death. Australian author Markus Zusak achieved international acclaim with this work, which was first released in 2005 and subsequently spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list while being translated into more than forty languages.
Born in Sydney in 1975 to an Austrian father and a German mother who emigrated to Australia in the late 1950s, Markus Frank Zusak grew up hearing stories of European wartime experience that deeply influenced his creative imagination. He attended Engadine High School, where he began writing fiction at sixteen and completed his first manuscript at eighteen. He went on to study English and history at the University of New South Wales, earning a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education before briefly working as a high school English teacher.
Zusak made his publishing debut in 1999 with The Underdog, the first entry in his trilogy about the Wolfe brothers, which was followed by Fighting Ruben Wolfe and When Dogs Cry (published in some markets as Getting the Girl). His 2002 novel The Messenger (also released as I Am the Messenger) earned wide critical recognition and won the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award. Following the worldwide success of The Book Thief in 2005, which was adapted into a 2013 feature film, Zusak released the multi-generational family novel Bridge of Clay and the non-fiction memoir Three Wild Dogs (and the truth). In 2014, he received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Zusak's writing is defined by its inventive narrative voice, rhythmic prose, and empathetic focus on ordinary individuals facing monumental personal or historical adversity. He regularly explores themes of brotherhood, loyalty, morality, and the resilience of the human spirit amidst hardship. By employing unexpected storytelling choices—such as placing a compassionate version of Death in the role of narrator in The Book Thief—he delivers a lyrical perspective on tragedy, memory, and the power of language.
