24. the BOOK THIEF

Markus Zusak 2005

A compelling tale of Liesel Meminger growing up in Himmel Street, Molching Nazi Germany. This book has all the makings of a classic: a haunting and unwelcomed narrator, unique foreshadowing, heart-wrenching unforgettable characters Max Vandenburg, Rudy Steiner, Isla Hermann, Rosa and Hans Huberman, powerful stories of the books within the book and the most dramatic ending that will stay with you for days if not forever.

"First the colors. Then the humans. That's usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try."

"**Some Other Small Facts** Sometimes I arrive too early, I rush, and some people cling longer to life than expected."

"All told, she owned fourteen books, but how she saw her story as being made up predominantly of ten of them. Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden Jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon."

"** A Definition Not Found In The Dictionary** Not Leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children."

"The stranger rubbed his jaw, looked around him, and then spoke with great quietness, yet great clarity."Are you a man who likes to keep a promise?""

"It makes me understand that the best standover man I've ever known is not a man at all..."

"She was home, among the mayor's books of every color and description, with the silver and gold lettering. She could smell the pages. She could almost taste the words as they stacked up around her."

"They keep triggering inside me. They harass my memory. I see them tall in their heaps, all mounted on top of each other. There is air like plastic, a horizon like setting glue. There are skies manufactured by people, punctured and leaking, and there are soft, coal-colored clouds, beating like black hearts."

"How do you give someone a piece of sky?..."Memorize it. Then write it down for him.""

"**A Nice Thought** One was a book thief. The other stole the sky."

"She returned to bed and fell asleep to the vision of Mama and the silent music. Later, when she woke up from her usual dream and crept again to the hallway. Rosa was still there, as was the accordion."

"The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small, skinny girl. She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be without words."

"Let the words do all of it. "Is it really you? the young man asked," she said. "Is it from your cheek that I took the seed?""

Personal Note: I reread this book. And I came away this time, in awe. I don't know why it WAS, but it IS. A great book.