The Book Thief, Markus Zusak; Alfred A. Knopf

“Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel—a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.”
Robin’s Note: Markus Zusak based this title on his parents’ memories of World War II in Germany as civilians, and his poetic but simple writing style makes this an extraordinary look at the Holocaust with Death as your narrator.  Zusak succeeds in making the familiar stories out of WWII Germany new, and newly horrifying, even as the remarkable language and gentle progression of the story wrap the reader in Liesel’s family and town.  Never saccharine and occasionally brutal, this beautifully written novel appeals to a broad range of readers, from teens to adults.