Markus Zusak is the bestselling author of six novels, including Bridge of Clay, The Book Thief and The Messenger. His books have been translated into more than forty languages, to both popular and critical acclaim. He lives in Sydney with his wife and two children. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

"Brilliant and hugely ambitious... It’s the kind of book that can be life changing." (The New York Times)

"... A moving work which will make many eyes brim." (The Independent) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

It is 1939. Nazi germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

Narrated by Death, The Book Thief is a story about the power of words and the ability of books to feed the soul. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author, MARKUS ZUSAK has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

'Brilliant and hugely ambitious' New York Times
'Absorbing and searing' Washington Post
'Deserves a place on the shelf with The Diary of Anne Frank . . . Poised to become a classic' USA today --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The No.1 New York Times Bestseller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

PROLOGUE

A MOUNTAIN RANGE OF RUBBLE

in which our narrator introduces:

himself - the colours
- and the book thief

DEATH AND CHOCOLATE

First the colours.

Then the humans.

That's usually how I see things.

Or at least, how I try.

HERE IS A SMALL FACT
You are going to die.

I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the As. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.

REACTION TO THE AFOREMENTIONED FACT
Does this worry you?
I urge you - don't be afraid.
I'm nothing if not fair.

Of course, an introduction.

A beginning.

Where are my manners?

I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A colour will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.

At that moment, you will be lying there (I rarely find people standing up). You will be caked in your own body. There might be a discovery; a scream will dribble down the air. The only sound I'll hear after that will be my own breathing, and the sound of the smell, of my footsteps.

The question is, what colour will everything be at that moment when I come for you? What will the sky be saying?

Personally, I like a chocolate-coloured sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however, try to enjoy every colour I see - the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavours, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax.

A SMALL THEORY
People observe the colours of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations,with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colours.Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues.Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.

As I've suggested, my one saving grace is distraction. It keeps me sane. It helps me cope, considering the length of time I've been performing this job. The trouble is, who could ever replace me? Who could step in while I take a break in your stock-standard resort-style holiday destination, whether it be tropical or of the ski-trip variety? The answer, of course, is nobody, which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision - to make distraction my holiday. Needless to say, I holiday in increments. In colours.

Still, it's possible that you might be asking, Why does he even need a holiday? What does he need distraction from?

Which brings me to my next point.

It's the leftover humans.

The survivors.

They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasions, I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colours to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling amongst the jigsaw puzzle of realisation, despair and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs.

Which in turn brings me to the subject I am telling you about tonight, or today, or whatever the hour and colour. It's the story of one of those perpetual survivors - an expert at being left behind.

It's just a small story really, about, amongst other things:

a girl
some words
an accordionist
some fanatical Germans
a Jewish fist-fighter
and quite a lot of thievery.

I saw the book thief three times.

BESIDE THE RAILWAY LINE

First up is something white. Of the blinding kind.

Some of you are most likely thinking that white is not really a colour and all of that tired sort of nonsense. Well I'm here to tell you that it is. White is without question a colour, and personally, I don't think you want to argue.

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.

Yes, it was white.

It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it had pulled it on, the way you pull on a jumper. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice.

As you might expect, someone had died.

They couldn't just leave him on the ground. For now it wasn't such a problem, but very soon, the track ahead would be cleared and the train would need to move on.

There were two guards.

There was a mother and her daughter.

One corpse.

The mother, the girl and the corpse remained stubborn and silent.

'Well, what else do you want me to do?'

The guards were tall and short. The tall one always spoke first, though he was not in charge. He looked at the smaller, rounder one. The one with the juicy red face.

'Well,' was the response, 'we can't just leave them like this, can we?'

The tall one was losing patience. 'Why not?'

And the smaller one damn near exploded. He looked up at the tall one's chin and cried, 'Spinnst du? Are you stupid!?' The abhorrence on his cheeks was growing thicker by the moment. His skin widened. 'Come on,' he said, traipsing through the snow. 'We'll carry all three of them back on if we have to. We'll notify the next stop.'

As for me, I had already made the most elementary of mistakes. I can't explain to you the severity of my selfdisappointment. Originally, I'd done everything right:

I studied the blinding, white-snow sky who stood at the window of the moving train. I practically inhaled it, but still, I wavered. I buckled - I became interested. In the girl. Curiosity got the better of me, and I resigned myself to stay as long as my schedule allowed, and I watched.

Twenty-three minutes later, when the train was stopped, I climbed out with them.

A small soul was in my arms.

I stood a little to the right.

The dynamic train guard duo made their way back to the mother, the girl and the small male corpse. I clearly remember that my breath was loud that day. I'm surprised the guards didn't notice me as they walked by. The world was sagging now, under the weight of all that snow.

Perhaps ten metres to my left, the pale, emptystomached girl was standing, frost-stricken.

Her mouth jittered.

Her cold arms were folded.

Tears were frozen to the book thief's face.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

" Brilliant and hugely ambitious... Some will argue that a book so difficult and sad may not be appropriate for teenage readers... Adults will probably like it (this one did), but it's a great young-adult novel... It's the kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, "The Book Thief" offers us a believable hard-won hope... The hope we see in Liesel is unassailable, the kind you can hang on to in the midst of poverty and war and violence. Young readers need such alternatives to ideological rigidity, and such explorations of how stories matter. And so, come to think of it, do adults." -"New York Times, "May 14, 2006
" "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"
" Zusak doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in "Slaughterhouse-Five": with grim, darkly consoling humor."
- "Time Magazine"
" Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."
- "Kirkus Reviews," Starred
" This hefty volume is an achievement...a challenging book in both length
and subject..."
- "Publisher's Weekly," Starred
" One of the most highly anticipatedyoung-adult books in years."
- "The Wall Street Journal"
" 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," Starred
" An extraordinary narrative."
- "School Library Journal," Starred
" "The Book Thief" will be appreciated for Mr. Zusak's audacity, also on display in his earlier "I Am the Messenger," It will be widely read and admired because it tells a story in which books become treasures. And because there's no arguing with a sentiment like that."
- "New York Times"
"
"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"Brilliant and hugely ambitious...Some will argue that a book so difficult and sad may not be appropriate for teenage readers...Adults will probably like it (this one did), but it's a great young-adult novel...It's the kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, "The Book Thief" offers us a believable hard-won hope...The hope we see in Liesel is unassailable, the kind you can hang on to in the midst of poverty and war and violence. Young readers need such alternatives to ideological rigidity, and such explorations of how stories matter. And so, come to think of it, do adults." -"New York Times, "May 14, 2006
""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"
"Zusak doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in "Slaughterhouse-Five" with grim, darkly consoling humor."
- "Time Magazine"
"Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."
- "Kirkus Reviews," Starred
"This hefty volume is an achievement...a challenging book in both length
and subject..."
- "Publisher's Weekly," Starred
"One of the most highly anticipated young-adult books in years."
- "The Wall Street Journal"
"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," Starred
"An extraordinary narrative."
- "School Library Journal," Starred
""The Book Thief" will be appr

Brilliant and hugely ambitious Some will argue that a book so difficult and sad may not be appropriate for teenage readers Adults will probably like it (this one did), but it s a great young-adult novel It s the kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, "The Book Thief" offers us a believable hard-won hope The hope we see in Liesel is unassailable, the kind you can hang on to in the midst of poverty and war and violence. Young readers need such alternatives to ideological rigidity, and such explorations of how stories matter. And so, come to think of it, do adults. -"New York Times, "May 14, 2006
""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"
"Zusak doesn t sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in "Slaughterhouse-Five" with grim, darkly consoling humor.
- "Time Magazine"
"Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."
- "Kirkus Reviews," Starred
"This hefty volume is an achievement...a challenging book in both length
and subject..."
- "Publisher's Weekly," Starred
"One of the most highly anticipated young-adult books in years."
- "The Wall Street Journal"
"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," Starred
"An extraordinary narrative."
- "School Library Journal," Starred
""The Book Thief" will be appreciated for Mr. Zusak's audacity, also on display in his earlier "I Am the Messenger." It will be widely read and admired because it tells a story in which books become treasures. And because there's no arguing with a sentiment like that."
- "New York Times"
"
"" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.