The Book Thief Review by an Adoptive Parent

NOTE: This article is from an old blog Golden wrote on from 2017 to 2019. It was called Mama Wants an RV. The blog has since expired but the memories remain. Thanks for reading!

Original Post from February 10, 2018

I made a new year’s resolution to read more this year. My goal: one book per month. Preferably young adult books as that is the genre in which I am beginning to write.

My goal: one book per month.

At first, I wasn’t sure where to begin. There are so many books and I didn’t want to waste my time on something I didn’t like. I searched the New York Times bestseller list for teens and stumbled upon The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I found both the movie and the novel at my local library.

Historical fiction was my genre of choice growing up, so when I realized this book was based during the WWII era I was very pleased to begin reading. I sped through the pages for an hour the first day. I was intrigued by the character development and the narrator, Death.

Death is haunted by humans.

“Death is haunted by humans.” He tells the story of Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl living in Munich, Germany with her new parents. She steals books to cope with the loss and hardship she has encountered in her young life so far. Death shares a variety of character viewpoints throughout the book, including Liesel’s best friend and Hitler Youth member, Rudy, as well as, a Jewish fist-fighter and the mayor’s wife, who has lost her son.

…masterfully written with superb forethought and insight into the culture of Nazi Germany.

The book is masterfully written with superb forethought and insight into the culture of Nazi Germany. I believe the astute reader will be absolutely enthralled by the accuracy of each scene from this Era.

Since the primary viewpoint is of Liesel, an orphan, I thought it appropriate to consider how well the author portrayed this character. Foster and adoptive parents typically encounter a variety of behaviors, including bizarre ones, and have much different relationships with their chosen children as compared to their bio-children.

Liesel shows some basic behaviors for most foster/adoptive children

Liesel shows some basic behaviors for most foster/adoptive children including remembering the loss of her brother, a short period of searching for her mother, and stealing to cope with her emotions. Unfortunately, as an older child she did not show as much resistance to new parents as one might think, especially considering how cross and rude her new mother is towards her.

I found the German name-calling throughout the book disheartening. That’s not to say those things didn’t truly happen in that era, but for an older adopted child to read this book and hear such derogatory language used against a fellow orphan – it may be triggering. As would the slapping from a trusted caregiver, of whom Liesel holds no hard feelings against. She is very forgiving.

She is very forgiving.

Overall, I give this book four-out-of-five stars. There is no denying the author has worked hard and done his research in presenting an accurate depiction of Nazi Germany and life for children and Jews during the WWII era. As for his depiction of a foster/adoptive child, and a female at that, I think there could have been a little more research into the thoughts and emotions of an abandoned and traumatized child. This may have allowed a little more insight into her addiction to stealing and her deep longing to find Max, the Jewish fist-fighter, after he leaves.

four-out-of-five stars

I recommend this book for mature children over thirteen and strongly suggest parents read it too. Many conversations may arise, including a discussion regarding a nude scene with Rudy and his male peers being scrutinized by doctors searching for perfection among the German race.

I must admit the book was hard to finish. While the character development drew me in, some of the repetitive scenes bored me. The book is 550 pages long and full of historically relevant material. I simply found it a little more than I meant to bite off as my first book of the new year.

If you have read The Book Thief, please share your comments below. I would love to hear what you thought of the story.

#trauma #adoption #thebookthief #grief #loss