THE BOOK THIEF

I recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak for our next book club meeting.  I really loved it!  It's well written, has captivating characters, and a plot that keeps you interested.  And, the use of short chapters makes for a quick read! 

Now that I've finished the book, I thought I'd try to come up with a list of similar books.

First,  there are other works by Markus Zusak:

The Underdog
Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Getting the Girl
I Am the Messenger

Then, there are books by other authors.  Some take place during the same time period, some include Death as a character, and some involve a love of books.

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli is set in Nazi occupied Poland before the Warsaw ghetto uprising.  The story is told through the eyes of a young orphan.  He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw, stealing food for himself and other orphans.  He wants to grow up to be a Nazi some day, but one day comes to change his mind.  When the trains come to take the Jews from the ghetto, he begins to realize it may be safer to be nobody at all.  This is a novel of heartbreak, hope, and survival.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein tells a story of friendship, war, and espionage.  A British plane crashes, and its pilot and passenger are best friends.  When Verity is arrested, she does not think she stands a chance at survival; she is a spy captured in enemy territory.  She is told to reveal her mission or to face execution.  As she tells her story, Verity discusses her past, her friendship with the pilot, and why she left the pilot behind.  Will this be enough for her to be safe from the enemy?  This is a story of danger and survival that will show you how far friends will go to save one another.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff:  Fifteen year old Daisy leaves New York City to stay with her aunt and cousins in England.  Soon after her arrival, her aunt leaves on a business trip.  The next day, bombs are dropped in London.  As the war continues, the farm becomes more and more isolated.  However, the war is all around, and Daisy and her cousins must stick together in a world that is unknown.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt does not take place during World War II, but it does include Death as a character.  Death comes to claim Keturah while she is lost in the forest.  She is able to charm him with her story, and Death allows her 24 hours to search for her true love.  She searches while the village prepares for a visit from the King, and Keturah is thrown into a major role as mysterious events take place.  Death's presence is felt throughout all of this until Keturah confronts him again.

Ashes by Kathryn Lasky takes place in Berlin where thirteen year old Gaby witnesses the beginning of Hitler's rise to power.  Gaby's favorite activity is reading.  While Hitler continues his rise to power, she turns to her books for comfort.  The world around her changes, and their family friend, Albert Einstein, flees the country.  When Gaby's books come under attack, she begins to fear that she may have to leave behind the life she has cherished.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks brings together books and war.  In 1996, Hanna Heath, a book conservator, is given the opportunity to analyze the Sarajevo Haggadah that was salvages from a destroyed Bosnian library.  When she discovers a series of tiny artifacts in the ancient binding, she begins to unlock the books mysteries.  The reader follows the book's journey from its salvation back to its creation.  In Bosnia, during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect the work from the Nazis.  During the Inquisition-era in Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning.  In the 1480s, in Seville, the reason for the Haggadah's illuminations is finally discovered.  Hanna's work will test her belief in herself as well as in the man she loves.

Night by Elie Wiesel tells the story of Elie as a teenager, when his family was taken from their home and sent to Auschwitz and then Buchenwald.  This book is the record of Wiesel's memories of the loss of his family and his own innocence.  This work shows man's capacity for inhumanity to man.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is the story of a German teenager who has a love affair with an older woman.  Michael Berg becomes ill on his way home from school, and he is rescued by Hanna.  In time they become lovers until she inexplicably disappears.  When Michael next sees Hanna, he is a law student, and she is on trial.  Michael watches her refuse to defend her innocence, and he begins to realize that she may be hiding a secret that she finds more shameful than murder.  This is a story of love, secrets, horror, and compassion set in postwar Germany.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield centers around the reader and storytelling.  It tells the story of author Vida Winter who decides to let Margaret Lee write the truth about her life.  However, Margaret needs to verify the information since Vida has a history of telling farfetched tales.  Vida Winter has spent years creating various life histories for herself, all of which are inventions that brought her fame but kept her violent and tragic past a secret.  Now that she is old and ailing, she wants to tell the truth about her life.  Margaret demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts of their pasts.  The Thirteenth Tale is a tribute to reading, a book for the reader in everyone.

Incantation by Alice Hoffman takes place during the Spanish Inquisition instead of World War II.  Sixteen year old Estrella has been brought up as a Catholic and discovers her family's true Jewish identity.  Tragic consequences arise when their secret is betrayed by Estrella's best friend.

Maus by Art Spiegelman is told in the format of a graphic novel.  It is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, and his son, a cartoonist.  The use of the cartoon format takes away the sense of familiarity.  Maus is a story within a story.  This work tells the story of survival of Vladek but also of the children who survive the survivors.  It examines history and its meaning for everyone.


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