num_pages: 552
description: Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereIt is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier and will be busier still.By her brother's graveside Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook left behind there by accident and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words as Liesel with the help of her accordian-playing foster father learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings the mayor's wife's library wherever there are books to be found.But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)
language: English
title: The Book Thief
publisher: Alfred A. Knopf