My
reaction upon turning the last digital page of this book: Damn.
After
finishing this book, I was lost for words. I was simply awestruck.
This has just made my list of absolute favorite books in the whole
world. What a unique and compelling story. This story is so amazing,
especially because it is told from death's own point of view. It
makes sense considering it takes place during the Holocaust and so
many deaths take place throughout the story itself. The
Book Thief almost seems real to
me. Talk about suspension of disbelief. This writer is awesome. I
like to write myself, and all I can say is that I hope I can reach
half of this guy's writing ability some day.
As
usual, I have to admit that my love for this book was not immediate.
It took me a while to really start liking it. My problem with it was
the length. I felt like I would never get done. I felt like it could
be told in less words. Now that I'm done with it, I wouldn't change a
thing. The Book Thief is
a masterpiece. It really makes me think about the state of the human
race, how ugly and horrible we really are. So horrible that we haunt
death himself. We are the real monsters.
For
that reason, I would love to use this in the classroom. I think it
would be a good book to use as a class read-aloud even if it is super
long. It could be a really long read-aloud accompanied by individual
or group research and projects. Or journals and sketchbooks. Even
excerpts would be good. The Book Thief
is simply perfect for teaching a unit about World War II. How many
books are about Germans who were against Hitler and hid Jews?
I
would also use this book in the classroom because of Liesel's love
for books. I feel like her character is so authentic and relatable
that her love for books would be contagious.
All
in all, I would definitely use this book in my Social Studies or
Language Arts classroom. It will be on my shelf. I think it is a book
I will be reading again and again.
Zusak,
M. (2006). The book thief.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
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