Plot Summary: This book is about Liesel Meminger, a girl living outside of Munich, Germany, in WWII. Liesel does not have a home and she steals to survive. While doing so she happens upon something that she cannot resist, and that is books. She eventually learns to read from her foster father and she begins to share her stolen books with others.
Critical Evaluation: The book has a unique narrator, which is death. With death being the narrator and the topic at hand, the Holocaust, the book can get very sad. I feel like this novel is one for mature teenagers. It can be a good book to get to know what was going on in this part of our history. This is an important book that tells about a difficult time in history, but it is a time that should not be forgotten and this book depicts WWII Germany very realistically and it is not for the faint of heart.
Author Information: According to http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/ Markus Zusak is an Australian writer and he grew up hearing stories about the Holocaust and knew he wanted to write a story about that. At first he wanted to be a painter like his dad, but after reading many novels that spoke to him as a teenager he eventually realized that he wanted to be a writer. It took him seven years to get published but once he did he was glad for all the failures, because they helped his write better. Genre: Historical Fiction
Curriculum Ties: WWII, Holocaust
Booktalking Ideas:Talk about the power of books.
Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+
Challenge Issues: If the book was challenged I would go to, ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why included? I love history and several librarians have recommended this novel.
Critical Evaluation: The book has a unique narrator, which is death. With death being the narrator and the topic at hand, the Holocaust, the book can get very sad. I feel like this novel is one for mature teenagers. It can be a good book to get to know what was going on in this part of our history. This is an important book that tells about a difficult time in history, but it is a time that should not be forgotten and this book depicts WWII Germany very realistically and it is not for the faint of heart.
Author Information: According to http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/ Markus Zusak is an Australian writer and he grew up hearing stories about the Holocaust and knew he wanted to write a story about that. At first he wanted to be a painter like his dad, but after reading many novels that spoke to him as a teenager he eventually realized that he wanted to be a writer. It took him seven years to get published but once he did he was glad for all the failures, because they helped his write better. Genre: Historical Fiction
Curriculum Ties: WWII, Holocaust
Booktalking Ideas:Talk about the power of books.
Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+
Challenge Issues: If the book was challenged I would go to, ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why included? I love history and several librarians have recommended this novel.
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