Book Blog #5: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"There's a Jew in my basement.
As the book quivered in her lap, the secret sat in her mouth. It made itself comfortable. It crossed it's legs." (Zusak 246)

     In The Book Thief  by Marcus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a girl in Nazi Germany who does, indeed, have a Jew in her basement. A man by he name of Max Vandenburg was that fortunate Jew: the secret.  If you know anything about the Holocaust, you would realize that having a Jew in a German family's home was dangerous. Very dangerous. Perhaps not as dangerous as being a Jew yourself, but close. Furthermore, it just adds to all the troubles Liesel has to deal with. 
     Saying that Liesel had a hard life would be a major understatement. She had to face many things that most older people couldn't handle. Her mother abandoned her, she watched her brother die in front of her, and she had to live in a time when Hitler was in power. Many times, Liesel has had to face the narrator of this story: Death. He was there at her brothers grave, watching her steal The Gravediggers Handbook, the first of many book thefts. Death has kept an eye on the book thief through her whole life; seeing her steal books, read them, and finally, Death saw her life be saved by one. 

Favorite Character

     The character that I adore in this book is Rudy Steiner, Liesel's best friend throughout her childhood. Rudy and Liesel's friendship was strengthened when they both, starving and in desperate need of sustenance, start stealing food together. I would describe Rudy as very childishly romantic with Liesel, because he is always asking her for a kiss, even for the smallest things. He is also very athletic, and as the story progresses, he becomes even more so as he grows into his body. Another way I would describe him would be stupidly brave. There is a part in the book where Rudy is at Hitler Youth and gets in trouble with the leaders, who jump at the chance to humiliate him. The leader asks Rudy when Hitler's birthday is, the right answer being April 20, 1889. Rudy replies defiantly, "Easter Monday", resulting in a very bad haircut and a very black eye. I think this demonstrates his personality in a way, because he is a very confident, outgoing, strong boy. 
Even Death said, 

"He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It's his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry."(Zusak 531)