The Book Thief

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. Print.

In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger, a young girl, is sent to live with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, in Nazi Germany after her mother gives her up for adoption. Liesel meets several important people in her stay including: the mayor's wife who lets her use her library; the rebellious neighbor, Rudy, who is lovelorn for Liesel; Max, the Jewish boy who is hid in the Hubermann's basement and most importantly, Death. The story is told through the eyes of Death who observes the war going on around him and seems weighted down by all the work he must do to take people out of the physical world. While Death is watching the Hubermann household, Leisel is stealing books learning to read and write her book entitled The Book Thief.

Looking at the readability lexiles, I would place The Book Thief at an adolescent level because of the use of long words, long text, some lesser used words and occasional German words. This is a book that requires reading stamina and a patient reader. Cognitively, the book is at an adolescent level because of the complexities of the characters roles in a society that has Nazis, non-Nazi Germans, Jews, Death himself and how they all fit in during a world war. An adolescent reader may have a hard time understanding how a story can be narrated by Death as well as exactly why the Jews are being persecuted. Socially, the text is also adolescence because of the conflicting emotions and purposes of the characters (Nazi allegiance and anti-Nazi allegiance) and theme of rebellion against power (hiding Max from the Nazis).

When examining the traits of high quality literature, the main points I saw illustrated were: major characters being many-sided individuals and the ability of the text to motivate and inspire its readers. The main character I see as being many-sided is Death. The common belief is of Death as an ominous being made of bones without any empathy for others. In The Book Thief, Death seems to be burdened by his work, even remarking that he needed a vacation. He is empathic and surprisingly human toward others, regretting taking their souls and even desiring possessions such as Leisel's book. The painting of Death as human-like really challenges and draws in the readers. Also, I believe the text motivates and inspires the readers through the underdog mentality of the Hubermanns, Leisel and Max. Everybody enjoys reading about others trying to survive against all odds. The historical yet fictional setting of The Book Thief inspires students to "fight the good fight" by seeing the lengths the Hubermanns go to conceal Max and protect their family.

The literary elements I saw in the text were person against society, setting as historical background and point of view. With person against society, Max's home in the basement was his way of protecting himself and hiding from the Nazi society outside. He could not fight the society himself, so he had to protect himself by going in hiding. This resulted in poor health and his eventual capture by the Nazis but ultimate survival. The setting as a historical background allows the reader to see how fully integrated the Nazis were in German society. From shopkeepers who insisted, "Heil Hitler" be said upon entering their store to children who were indoctrinated in the Hitler Youth and soldiers patrolling the city, the setting in this fictional book acts as a historical backdrop to the characters and their struggles. Finally, the point of view from Death's perspective is a unique view of the state of the world in the 1940's. He sighs in exhaustion at his plight and talks of being busy taking souls away as they meet their end; he takes no joy in his job. His specter is cast over every event in the book from when he almost took Max's soul to when he took Leisel's younger brother on the train ride early in the text.

One idea for a mini lesson would be to talk about The Diary of Anne Frank (who I believe may have heavily inspired Max's story). We could discuss the factual nature of her story, Anne herself, her legacy and any similarities between her and Max. Also, new footage was discovered of Anne Frank, the only known footage of her. This video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hvtXuO5GzU ) may help show the class that people like Max actually lived in extremely dangerous environment (however, Anne Frank met a different end than Max, sadly).

Looking back at The Book Thief, I believe its target audience is definitely in the adolescent group because of the difficult subject matter, complex character allegiances, its historically fictional style and the use of sometimes long or uncommon English words and occasional German words.