Pick of the Week- The Book Thief

is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  This is an historical fiction novel set in World War II Germany. Interestingly, the narrator is something like the grim reaper.  He first meets Liesel, the book's protagonist, at age eleven when her brother dies while they are on their way to live with a foster family.  Her father was a communist and taken by the Nazis immediately before the war, and her mother has no way to support her children.  After stealing her first book from the graveyard where her brother is buried, Liesel is taken in by an older couple, the Hubermans, who live a few miles from the Dachau concentration camp.  Rosa is foul mouthed harsh woman who nonetheless has a big heart; while Hans is an endlessly caring and warm father figure.  The family, who secretly hate Hitler and the Nazis, decide to hide a Jewish teenager and live in constant fear of discovery and punishment. This griping tale will be sure fascinate students of World War II and the Holocaust.