The Book Thief

Bibliography

Zusak, Markus. 2005. The Book Thief. New York, NY: Knope, Borzoi Books ISBN 978-0-375-83100-3

Plot Summary

Liesel, a young girl living in Molching, Germany during WWII, has a love of books that runs so deep that she risks everything to steal them. She does not hoard these books but rather uses them to bond with others, such as her Papa, who teaches her to read, and Max, the Jew the family is hiding in the basement. These books help her cope with the travesties of war in many ways, but what she does not know is that every time she has stolen a book, one person has been watching.

Critical Analysis

Right off the bat The Book Thief will have the reader hooked because of the unusual, brutally honest and bluntly insightful narrator, Death. He tries to tell the harrowing story of Liesel and her family and friends lives "attempting to be cheerful about the whole topic" but is distantly effected by his observations. With his interesting insights, marked by stars and bold font, Death attempts to detach himself, but in his narration of the story, the reader learns as much about Death as they do about the "main character," Leisel. 

The Book Thief takes another interesting approach by basing the story more so around the life of non-Jew Germans and the effects on them than German Jews. Although Max, a Jew who is hiding in Liesel's basement, plays a major part in the story, it is focused more on how his being there impacts the family. It also emphasizes the number of Germans who did not agree with the war, but were forced to participate in it to keep their families safe, such as Liesel's father and her best friend Rudy's father. 

Review Excerpts

"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   


"Exquisitely written and memorably populated, Zusak's poignant tribute to words, survival, and their curiously inevitable entwinement is a tour de force to be not just read but inhabited." -The Horn Book Magazine


Connections
*Death describes events in colors. Have students share other stories, personal or from other books, and discuss what colors they would use to describe them and why.
*Max used pages from Mein Kampf to write a new story for Liesel. Provide students with pages from an unusable book, or recycled scrap paper, and have them use whatever supplies at hand to create a new story on it. 

The Graveyard Book

Bibliography

Gaiman, Neil. 2008. The Graveyard Book. Ill. by Dave McKean. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children's Books ISBN 978-0-06-053092-1

Plot Summary

Nobody Owen's toddled onto the graveyard property near his house as a baby narrowly escaping the assassin who murdered his whole family. It is there that he grows up, raised by ghosts and other graveyard haunters, and learns life lessons, how he came to live at the graveyard, and how he will survive once he has to leave it. 

Critical Analysis

The Graveyard Book is appropriate for young adults ten or older. There are many adult themes, such as death, murder, and ghosts that make it inappropriate for younger ages, not mention a vocabulary they might find difficult. For the right audience however, The Graveyard Book is captivating and keeps the reader hooked because you want to see what graveyard adventure Bod will get into next. 

The voice in which the story is written lightens what could be a very dark book. There is humor, love, and admiration incorporated within the story that makes the graveyard feel alive and action-packed. We are given enough information about each of the characters to appreciate their role in the story and Gaiman's use of quoting from characters' tombstones (for example "Miss Letitia Borrows, Spinster of this Parish, Who Did No harm to No Man all the Dais of Her Life. Reader, Can You Say Lykewise?") brings them "back to life," so to speak, while simultaneously giving the reader insight into the character and era in which they died.  

The black and white illustrations in sporadically throughout the book add another level of intrigue beyond the plot. They are abstractly done so that the reader can still create their own image of a character or setting, but it provides a jumping off point to add detail to.  

Review Excerpts

Winner of the John Newbery Medal 2008

"Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family."—Megan Honig, New York Public Library

Connections

*Take advantage of the Halloween-time draw towards ghost stories and create a library display featuring The Graveyard Book and other seasonally appropriate books, both fiction and non-fiction.

*Host a scary story night book club meeting to discuss The Graveyard Book. Encourage attendees to bring a short ghost story to share, either from another author or personal experience. 

Rapunzel's Revenge

Bibliography

Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale. 2008. Rapunzel's Revenge. Ill. by Nathan Hale. New York, NY: ISBN 978-1-59990-070-4

Plot Summary

Rapunzel is a witty, rough-and-tumble type of girl with compassion for everyone. In essence, she is the complete opposite of her mother, Mother Gothel, a which with growing powers and an evil spirit. When Rapunzel finds out that her real mother is a slave in Mother Gothel's mines she is outraged and promptly imprisoned in a tree tower by Mother Gothel where her hair grows over twenty feet long. After escaping, Rapunzel, her twenty feet of hair and her trusty sidekick Jack journey back to Mother Gothel's villa on a mission to save her real mother and get revenge, facing exciting adventures and run-ins along the way. 

Critical Analysis

Rapunzel's Revenge puts an interesting spin on the classic fairy tale by turning the plot into more of a western than a "once upon a time" sort of story. Rapunzel is anything but a damsel in distress and is constantly saving Jack and others from accidents and their foes. The tale does end with a revert back to traditionalism, when Jack "steals" a kiss from "Punzie" and they live happily ever after. The juxtaposition of the hints of the classic tale against the wild west adventures and strong female lead make the graphic novel appealing to both boys and girls. The illustrations and dialog bubbles are arranged in an easy to follow manner and the illustrations support and enhance the plot line. 

Review Excerpts

"The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after." –Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, New York Public Library, School Library Journal

"Rich with humor and excitement, this is an alternate version of a classic that will become a fast favorite of young readers."-Tina Coleman, Booklist

Connections

*Have kids choose another classic fairy tale book and read it. Then have them rewrite the story in another setting or time and illustrate it.

*Bring a lasso and set up an area for the kids to try and lasso different objects from the book (such as a "sea serpent") to see how difficult it is to lasso things. Have another area where they can decorate a small milk carton like a house. Then have them plant a "magic bean" that they can take home and watch grow out of the house, like Jack's bean stalk grew out of his.