Book Review: The Book Thief stole my heart

As most of you know I belong to a book club where once a month we get together and catch up, discuss our latest piece of literature, and pick a book to read over the next four weeks. This small group of women my age has meant the world to me during my time in Austin. I don't know how I would stay sane without these ladies and our monthly get-togethers.

In early March we voted on Marcus Zusak's "The Book Thief." This poignant story, narrated by a personified Death, follows a young girl growing up on the poor side of town in Nazi Germany. Most Holocaust books focus on the painful struggle of persecuted Jews. This book captures the flip side, showing what it was to be under Nazi pressure as a German and maintaining morality.

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Liesel, the young heroine shows an admirable ethical standard all the while under intense pressure. As a release from her painstaking life, she and her companion Rudy steal from the rich. Rudy, who never gets his fill, is always in search of food that he doesn't have to share with his large impoverished family. Liesel on the other hand, though hungry too, is always searching for a book to add to her collection. As the war pushes on, life gets more confusing for Liesel and her friends. Just as Hitler spins out of control in power, her life seems to unravel. Just when things start to make sense again, her whole world is ripped in two.

If you are looking for a book to both take your breath away and restore your faith in humanity, this is the one. I have never read something so beautifully written, so poetic.