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I've read a great deal of Holocaust literaure; I even took a graduate-level class in Holocaust literature. That said, this is still the best Holocaust book I've read since Elie Wiesel's Night, which I read more than 30 years ago. Actually, this is the best book I've read in a long time.

The book -- for the most part -- details the day-to-day existence in a small Bavarian village near Munich of a foster child, Liesel Meminger, the eponymous book thief; her best friend, Rudy Steiner; and her loving foster family, the Hubermanns. Narrated by Death himself, the language in the novel is oftentimes poetically existential:

...THE COLORS...
RED, WHITE, BLACK:

They fall on top of each other, the scribbled signature black, onto the blinding global white, onto the thick soupy red.

Yes, often, I am reminded of her [Liesel], and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her story to retell. It is one of the small legion I carry, each one extraordinary in its own right. Each one an attempt -- an immense leap of an attempt -- to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.

At other times, the irony is knee-deep, as in when Death explains the Third Reich in Chapter 9:

In a way, it was destiny.

You see, people may tell you that Nazi Germany was built on anti-Semitism, a somewhat overzealous leader, and a nation of hate-fed bigots, but it would all have come to nothing had the Germans not loved one particular activity:

To burn.

The Germans loved to burn things. Shops, synagogues, Reichstags, houses, personal items, slain people, and of course, books. They enjoyed a good book-burning, all right....

The Book Thief remains a page-turner throughout, never descending to preachiness or cheap sentimentality. Indeed, at 540 pages, the book still seems to end too soon. The Book Thief truly is destined to become a classic. I expect the novel to be added to the AP Literature recommended list -- it's that good. Don't miss out on this book.