Death is haunted by humans, especially a young girl in Nazi Germany whom he glimpses several times as he collects people she knows. Liesel has watched her brother die and mother leave forever (likely “disappeared” for being a Communist), and been assigned foster parents near Munich. As the war approaches, she and her friends attend Hitler Youth meetings, play street soccer, and steal food from nearby farms. Liesel also steals books, the first from the gravedigger at her brother’s burial. Oh, and her foster parents hide a Jew in their basement. Even the secondary characters here are priceless: the gentle, accordion-playing foster-father who teaches Liesel to read and sits with her every night through her nightmares; the grumpy foster mother who comes to love her; the Jew Max, who hides in the basement for two years and writes stories for Liesel; and the best friend who longs only for a kiss. Very highly recommended for a glimpse of lives we rarely consider: the children who witnessed but were not responsible for the Holocaust.
We use cookies to recognize you when you return to this website so you do not have to log in again. By continuing to use this site, you are giving us your consent to do this. You can read more about our practices and your choices here.