Awards
- 2006- Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (South East Asia and South Pacific
- 2006- Horn Book Fanfare
- 2006-Kirkus Reviews Editor Choice Award
- 2006- School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
- 2006- Daniel Elliott Peace Award
- 2006- Publishers Weekly Best Children Book of the Year
- 2006- Booklest Children Editors' Choice
- 2006- Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
- 2007- ALA Best Books for Young Adults
- 2007- Michael L. Printz Honor Book (Picture at top of the page)
- 2007- Book Sense Book of the Year
- 2009- Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Master List
Criticisms
Many critics liked The Book Thief enjoyed its messages and unusually interesting story line.\
Examples:
Examples:
- The Book Thief is unsettling and unsentimental, yet ultimately poetic. Its grimness and tragedy run through the reader's mind like a black-and-white movie, bereft of the colors of life. Zusak may not have lived under Nazi domination, but The Book Thief deserves a place on the same shelf with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel's Night. It seems poised to become a classic. ~USA Today
"*** HERE IS A SMALL FACT ***
You are going to die."
(Zusak, 3)
You are going to die."
(Zusak, 3)
The quote above can make the book sound unsettling and unsentimental since at the very begining of the book Death tells his readers that they are going to die.
- I am apparently one of the few people who just do not see what all of the hype is about on this one. I was really excited to read this after all of the glowing reviews it got, but I was left extremely disappointed. I found the writing stilted and stuttering (hard to stutter in writing, but this book pulls it off), overly sentimental, and heavy-handed on the symbolism.
I also found the author's approach to the story to be just plain gimmicky. The first and foremost gimmick (also see heavyy-handed symbolism) is that the story is narrated by Death. Now, this might work in some books, but not this one. The choice of narrator adds absolutely nothing to the story; it is only a distraction to the reader, and it also encouraged the author to add trite observations about Death's perspective (for example, he doesn't carry a scythe, but likes the human image) that add nothing to the story... ~ Michael's Review (Goodreads)
"*** A REASSURING ANNOUNCEMENT***
Please, be calm, despite that previous threat.
I am all bluster-
I am not violent.
I am not malicious.
I am a result."
(Zusak, 6)
Please, be calm, despite that previous threat.
I am all bluster-
I am not violent.
I am not malicious.
I am a result."
(Zusak, 6)
Some people, like Michael, might have seen Death's side comments as unnecessary or distracting; however, many others believe that they are enjoyable and make the book more interesting.
My Review
I thought The Book Thief was amazing. To me it was interesting and explored a topic that was interesting to me and allowed me to think of it in a different way. Personally I enjoyed having Death as the narrator. I have never seen that being done before and it was a nice twist and the little side comments by Death helped me understand the book a little better. However, I will say that the all the symbolism with color threw me off a little during the beginning of the book but by the end of it I learned to appreciate it. Even though the book made me cry at the end it was still one of the best book I have every read.