The Book Thief - Reaction Paper

The Book Thief ; 
How one book can convey the emotional  realities for families during a war

Written by: Amiya

The book you are going to be reading about changed my life, view and thoughts on people in this beautiful but dark world we live in. The Book Thief is a book about a foster child and her foster family’s life during World War II in Nazi Germany. Markus Zusak did a great job portraying feelings and struggles any middle to lower class family could experience in these situations during a war. Let’s start by introducing Leslie Meminger.

The Book Thief is a book about a foster child named Leslie Meminger who lost her brother to an illness while on their way to their adoptive parents’ home. Leslie steals a book at her little brother’s burial and that is how she became the “Book Thief”. Throughout the entire book Leslie is known to steal books from parades and the Mayor’s house. She learns to read and write from these books she had stolen, and would later read them to a hidden Jew in her basement to keep him company.

For money, Leslie’s foster mom Rosa Hubermann would wash and deliver laundry to clients. Leslie’s foster father, Hans Hubermann, painted houses. But slowly Rosa Hubermann was losing clients and Hans wasn't making enough money to buy more paint. This caused the Hubermann family to live in poverty for the remainder of the book. Because of this, Leslie started stealing food from rich people’s houses with her best friend Rudy. This became a normal thing for the two friends to do together. 

In this book Leslie Meminger loses many people in her life that she loves and deeply cares for because of the war. As you read about her grieving process you can feel her emotions through the book and you can feel a connection between you and the characters. 

Markus Zusak did a great job creating a book that you can emotionally connect with on different levels. Each character in this book will have something you can relate to and see in yourself. This is my favorite book, and I highly suggest you pass on this book title to everyone you know. 

“I am haunted by humans.” - The Book Thief, Markus Zusake