The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by the Australian author Markus Zusak, set in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Published in 2005, The Book Thief became an international bestseller and was translated into 63 languages and sold 17 million copies.

[1] The story begins in 1939 as Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old girl, travels with her younger brother, Werner, on a train to their new foster home in Molching.

Tragically, Werner dies during the journey, and Liesel, devastated, steals a book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, from the train station.

Rudy idolizes Jesse Owens, the African American athlete, and the two engage in mischievous activities, including stealing food and pranks.

The narrative takes a dramatic turn when the Hubermanns decide to hide a Jewish man named Max Vandenburg in their basement.

Liesel survives the attack, but the Hubermanns’ home is destroyed, and she loses her beloved foster parents, Hans and Rosa.

In her new environment, she finds comfort in reading and writing, continuing to honor the memory of Hans, Rosa, and Rudy.

She eventually emigrates to Australia, where she marries and raises a family, but her heart remains tied to her childhood and the people who shaped her.

Liesel Meminger The story's protagonist is a girl on the verge of adolescence, with German blonde hair and brown eyes.

She has a "wardrobe" build and a displeased face, five feet tall, brown-grey hair often tightly tied in a bun.

He is known throughout the neighborhood because of the "Jesse Owens incident" in which he colored himself black with charcoal one night and ran one hundred meters at the local sports field.

He is academically and athletically gifted which attracts the attention of Nazi Party officials, leading to attempted recruitment.

His death is what allowed the first book to be stolen: a gravedigger's manual dropped by a young boy learning to work in the cemetery.

At the beginning of the story shortly after her brother's funeral, Liesel finds a book in the snow, one she is unable to read.

Rosa Huberman's abrasive and oft-times scatological speech towards her family and others is emblematic of the despairing lives of the poorer classes.

Symbolically, Liesel's rescue of a book from a Nazi bonfire represents her reclaiming of freedom and her resistance to being controlled by the all-pervasive state.

[2] In the midst of war and loss, love is a central theme which acts as a catalyst for change and sacrifice throughout the book.

At the beginning of the novel, Liesel is traumatized not only by the death of her brother and her separation from her only family but also by the larger issues of war-torn Germany and the destruction wrought by the Nazi party.

In a society ruled by governmental policies that presume to stand in judgment of who is truly human, the Hubermanns' relationship with Max defies the Nazi regime.

It stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson as Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Ben Schnetzer as Max Vandenburg, Nico Liersch as Rudy Steiner, and Sophie Nélisse as Liesel Meminger.

A musical theater version premiered at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, on 17 September 2022.

The libretto was written by Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald, with music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson.