"It's just a small story, really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery ..." Narrated in the all-knowing matter-of-fact voice of Death, witnessing the story of the citizens of Himmel Street: When nine-year-old Liesel arrives outside the boxlike house of her new foster parents, she refuses to get out of the car. Liesel has been separated from her parents - 'Kommunists' - for ever, and at the burial of her little brother, she steals a gravedigger's instruction manual which she can't read. It is the beginning of her illustrious career. In the care of the Hubermans, Liesel befriends blond-haired Rudy Steiner, her neighbour obsessed with Jesse Owens. She also befriends the mayor's wife, who hides from despair in her library. Together Liesel and Rudy steal books - from Nazi book burning piles, from the mayor's library, from the richer people of Molching. In time, the family hide a Jewish boxer, Max, who reads with Liesel in the basement. By 1943, the Allied bombs are falling, and the sirens begin to wail. Liesel shares out her books in the air-raid shelters.
But one day in the life of Himmel street, the wail of the sirens comes too late ...A life-changing tale of the cruel twists of fate and the coincidences on which all our lives hinge, this is also a joyous look at the power of book to nourish the soul. Its uplifting ending will make all readers weep.
If I were anybody else this would be a 5 star review. Because it's so uniquely written. And a very good story with well developed characters. So interesting and peculiar in a really beautiful way.
I liked the unorthodox way in which the story's told. I like the characters and how real they are, even when I didn't like them. There was an unconventional poetry to so much of the story.
I don't understand why it's classified as YA at all. The protagonist is a young girl who grows into adolescence but there was nothing about the story or the writing or anything that fit with a YA book. So, not sure how it won the Printz, even though it deserves lots of awards.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I just can't bring myself to. I'm so particular about my ratings and while it's a good book that I enjoyed, it's not something I would reread again and again and again. And I need a deep love for a book for it to be 5 stars, not just serious respect or solid like.
