At the age of eleven Liesel Meminger is sent to stay with foster parents in the town of Molching. She meets Death for the first time in the snow beside a railway track and steals her first book on the same day. She will meet Death again as the terrors of the second world war draw ever closer to the small German town, and she will also steal more books too.
After a rocky start she grows to love her foster parents - the forthright Rosa, and the kindly Hans Hubermann who will teach her to read and to conquer her nightmares. She befriends Rudy, the boy next door, and joins him in games of football and other more nefarious exploits. Finally, as a result of a promise made during the first great war by Hans, another refugee will come to Himmel street with profound consequences.
This is an unusually affecting and moving novel, narrated by Death, as he goes about his necessary duties in wartime Germany. It examines the power of words, both for good and evil, and does not flinch from the horror of war and the evil of Nazism. Even though the ending is explicitly foreshadowed a number of times, it does not detract from its devastating impact.
I give this book my highest recommendation.
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