Finished: The Book Thief

I finished the book thief this week. There is a profound moment of great sadness that resonates deeply in the psyche.  Anyone who has read WWII literature and understands the holocaust experience will be interested in looking at the experience from the viewpoint of the common German people.  We talk about Nazi Germany and the atrocities of war enacted on a "helpless" people, but what of the ordinary Germans who were not members of the party?  What was their experience when the party came to town, inducted their children into Hitler Youth movements and judged them as to whether they were "Jew-lovers" or "Conspirators" or what-not. Liesle becomes for us a protagonist that we can love and cherish like one of our own kids.  She finds outlets, not always legal, for her energy and confusion.  We wonder about her real mother and feel her terror when hiding in the basements during the bombings.  We applaud her reading to the community and wonder at a time when not everyone could read or read well.  What books would we read in the bomb-shelter today?  Would books make a resurgence if our electronics were to disappear?  I would list this book among my favorites for this style and genre of book, especially for young adults. My next book will be The Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier.