Reviewed by: Isabella V.
Leisel
has a simple life- for a thirteen year old girl living in Nazi Germany
with a Jew hidden in her basement. She lives out her life with her
foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Her days are spent playing
soccer with her friend Rudy; the boy who painted himself black in the
middle of the night and pretended to be Jesse Owens; getting called a
“Saumensch” by Rosa; and stealing books that she learns how to read with
the help of Hans and a few buckets of paint. Through many nights
practicing words in the dark gloom of the Hubermann basement, she and
Max (the Jew hiding in her basement) form an unlikely friendship with
the power of words. But what will happen to Max with the Führer on his
tail? And which will be more of a threat: the Nazis, or his own mind?
This
book is by far one of the best I’ve ever read, and this description
doesn't do it justice in the least. Markus Zusak writes with an eloquent
mix of sadness and fear, mixed with just a dash of hope to always keep
the reader guessing. The figurative language in this book is simply
beautiful, and the foreshadowing is astounding in how very fast it will
reduce you to a puddle of tears. One of the most compelling components
of this book was the narrator: Death himself. Zusak’s Death is not
malicious, as one might expect him to be, but tired, and weary of his
work, especially in the wake of war. The ending of the book is revealed
in the first ten pages, but the journey to get there through over 500
pages still manages to make it shocking and heart-wrenching. This book
is beautiful and heart-shattering, and I recommend it to anyone and
everyone.
Honorable Mentions:
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, Jordan Sonnenblick
Alcatraz Smedry, Brandon Sanderson
hi
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