I'm feeling very overwhelmed by it and too wound up to go to bed. The Book Thief is a profound story of a Liesel Meminger, a little girl who lives through Nazi Germany. We've all read books about this period in our world's history, but I have never read something from this perspective. Most of the characters in this book are not Jewish. They are not haters of the Jews. They are not supporters of Hitler and his "reign of terror". They are regular people dealing with the atrocity of the time. I am having a difficult time wrapping my brain around what it must have been like for these "regular" people. They were torn. Torn between their disgust for the evil taking place in their country and the paralyzing fear they had about opposing it. It is heart wrenching and so very clever.
Liesel, the main character, is remarkable. She's the book thief. Even though she is just a child in the story, she is strong, brave, smart, sensitive, and funny. She's a hero. An unsung hero. We never hear or read about people like her. She's not media worthy. But people like her have to exist. They just have to. I would've liked to have known her.
I have never read a book like this before.
Go to the library or bookstore and pick it up right now! Be sure to stop and pick up a box of Kleenexes on the way home as well. You will need them, but in a good way.
