The Book Thief

It is 1939 in Nazi Germany, and Death narrates a story he will become busier telling. Liesel Meminger is a young foster girl living outside Munich who scratches out a meager existence and begins stealing books she cannot resist. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares stolen books with neighbors during bombing raids and with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. The novel follows these people, their relationships, and the dangers of wartime Germany as seen through Death’s voice.