Review of: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Sometimes it feels like the young adult literature market is written to readers, almost in a condescending way. That's why a book like Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is so refreshing in this sea of ​​cookie-cutter novels and fantasies. Although classified as a young adult novel, it deals with very serious themes. The cover of the book is printed with this label: “It's 1939. Nazi Germany. The country holds its breath. Death has never been busier, and it will be even busier." It's a dark allusion to what's to come. But Zusak makes this story more accessible to the audience he is writing for and does so by creating relatable characters, injecting humor into this dark subject, and using unique storytelling to keep the reader captivated. Zusak, in this book, creates a very identifiable and unique protagonist and then surrounds her with equally unique and engaging characters. The protagonist is Liesel Meminger who is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930s. He arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Gravedigger's Handbook, a book he stole from his brother's burial site. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life in their little street becomes scarier, and Liesel becomes a real book thief. Save books from Nazi burning and steal from the mayor's library. He steals, not because he is a kleptomaniac, but he steals books that mark important moments in his life. “The point is, it didn't really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was most important... in the middle of the paper... and in the intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can be made up of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spitting blues. Dark darkness. In my work, I make an effort to notice them.” Along with his stream-of-consciousness style, Zusak has the narrator divide the book into quick, choppy chapters, rarely longer than five pages. Death also introduces his personal thoughts as interjections into the action of the story. Sometimes these are little facts about himself, other times deeper insights into the action, and sometimes clarifications. Death is truly the perfect narrator for this story. The Book Thief stands out in its genre as a smart, entertaining, if sometimes dark, novel for young adults. It's a book that, through its characters, dark humor, and innovative storytelling, can captivate virtually any audience.