I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It just came out last month and it is extraordinary. It's about a little German girl named Liesel during World War II. When her younger brother dies, Liesel steals a book (The Gravedigger's Instruction Manual) near his gravesite as a memento of how she felt that day. Her mother realizes she cannot take care of Liesel with the world crumbling all around them, so Liesel goes off to live with the Hubermanns'.

Throughout the book, Liesel is touched by the written word and the constant threat of war and death. The Nazi party is more and more prevalent every day, but Liesel learns their wickedness through the actions of her Papa, Hans Hubermann, a good man who plays the accordion beautifully and takes in Max, a Jew, and hides him in his basement. Liesel quickly becomes great friends with Max and she tries not to think what will happen to him (to all of them) if he is found.

I won't say anymore except that this book was published first in Australia as Adult Fiction. Here in the U.S., it is being published as Young Adult. What does that mean exactly? Well, you could look at it two ways:

1) The publisher believes there is a better chance this book will sell to younger readers.
2) This is just one of those groundbreaking books that matures the minds of young readers--a book that will help you grow up by showing you all shades of good and evil the world has to offer.

Oh yes, and did I mention that The Book Thief is narrated by Death himself? Check it out. You won't be sorry.