The book takes place in Germany in 1939 (WWII). It starts out with a 10 year old girl named Liesel Meminger who is moving to a home in a small town called Molching with her younger brother.They are going to live with foster parents: Hans and Rosa Hubermann. To get there, they are forced into an extremely cramped train, much like the ones the Jews were forced to ride to the concentration camps. Unfortunately, her brother dies on that train and is buried at the next stop. This is when Lieel commits her first act of book thievery. She picks up The Grave Digger's Handbook and learns to read from Hans Hubermann. Here she begins to fall in love with books and the words in them. She starts to steal books from various places: Nazi book burnings, the mayor's wife's library, etc. Soon, her family hides a Jew in their basement and she sees things in a new light.
Personally, I thought this book was amazing. I couldn't stop reading it. The way the author told the story made it interesting, even if the story itself was not (which it was, anyway). It was a whole new perspective on the Holocaust, and that's not all it was about, either.
I don't really know how to describe it without giving away some important factors. It would spoil the point of reading it.
A note: it is for older readers. I read it because it was recommended to me (and I'm glad).
