The Beauty of The Book Thief

Three times in the past I have tried to read Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief; I Am the Messenger is my favorite YA book since 2000 (I voted for it when Joan Kaywell sent her email around), so I figured I would dive in and read the monster book in no time flat. Well, each time I was interrupted and had to start over from the beginning. Well, after sitting on my bookshelf for four years and with the fall semester rapidly approaching, I decided it was time to read it so I will have time to plan with the teacher I will be working with.

I will be co-teaching in a local high school again this year in a 9th grade class with the teacher who worked with me and the summer reading program. We will be teaching entirely through YA lit! No boring textbook! No grammar book! No test preparation!

Back to The Book Thief.

Beyond the story, the writing is amazing! Last year, in my teaching writing class, I used Jeff Anderson’s Mechanically Inclined. In it, he promotes the use of “mentor texts,” wonderfully crafted sentences from literature to teach and reteach mechanics and grammar.

I thought it would be worth mentioning some of the beautiful language and stylistic devices in Zusak’s novel as they provide wonderful examples for students. And these are only a few from only the first 35 pages!

Fragments:
• I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that’s only the A’s. (p. 3)
• Then warming up completely. Healing. (p. 21)
• Wirelike shins. Coat hanger arms. (p. 31)

Personification:
• It was like the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it had pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. (p. 6)
• The plane was still coughing. Smoke was leaking from both its lungs. (p. 9)
• The train limped through the snowed-in country. It hobbled in and stopped. (p. 22)
• That strange word was always there somewhere, standing in the corner, watching from the dark. It wore suits, uniforms. (p. 31)

Similes:
• The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. (p. 12)
• The boy’s spirit was soft and cold, like ice cream. (p. 21)
• The cemetery welcomed me like a friend. (p. 22)

Metaphors:
• Liesel was sure her mother carried the memory of him, slung over her shoulder. (p. 25)
• The day was gray, the color of Europe. (p. 27)

Here, Zusak describes the inspiration behind this fabulous book: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/author.html#3