Jennifer

=Jennifer=

__The Book Thief__ by Markus Zusak Set against the tragedy-stained canvas of World War II, Death tells the story of young Liesel Meminger (the eponymous book thief) growing up in Nazi Germany under the watchful eye of a staunch foster mother and kindly foster father who teaches her to read. She attends meetings of the BDM, a youth group aimed at indoctrinating young girls into Hitler's ideology. She plays soccer with the boys on her street, holding her own in any disputes that arise. And all the while, the dreams of her dead brother haunt and goad her into a fascination with reading and words that inevitably leads to her life of crime. It is a meeting with Max Vandenburg, a 24-year-old Jewish man being hidden in Liesel's basement by her compassionate foster parents, that alters the course of Liesel's life. Max, too, is haunted by nightmares of a family he lost in the harrowing aftermath of Kristallnacht. Together, Max and Liesel discover a shared love of words that leads to a decisive understanding about the role words play in both bravery and cowardice. Each, in their own way, sets out to use this knowledge to shape the world around them. While other writers have employed Death as a narrator, Zusak makes his own indelible mark on the technique in the dimensions he gives to the character. Death is simultaneously dispassionate about his work and the impact it can have while striving to understand humanity's resilience. Death boasts an omniscience of what //will// happen in life but also a naivety about what //can// happen in the human heart. This story, if you are one who likes historical books or not, this is a book will keep your eyes glued to the pages. This was one of the first books I read as I started to get into reading and it made the pathway to my love of reading. The main character, Liesel, finds reading to be the way out of her troubles in life with the death of family, and the war taking place around her. The books she reads leads her to find happiness in the worst of times, which I think all readers find as they read, happiness.
 * Review from teen reads:**
 * Why this book is important to me:**

__The Last Song__ by Nicholas Sparks Her parents' divorce left 17-year-old Veronica Miller embittered and confused. Three years later, "Ronnie" still seethes with anger toward her father, a musician and teacher who has abandoned hectic New York City for the quiet beach town of Wilmington, North Carolina. Nevertheless, she reluctantly agrees to her mother's altruistic plan that for the good of all concerned, she should visit her estranged father in his new home. As the story of //The Last Song// unfolds, novelist Nicholas Sparks weaves his magic, threading together the intricate story of three very different people tied inextricably together. This book is one of my favorite books because it deals with love and the struggles that come with loving someone. The main character Ronnie has to battle issues with people she loves in her life to try and restore the love she has with them. As most people realize, you don't know what you have until it's gone, and that's the result of Ronnie's stubbornness. The saddness that takes place in this story makes any reader be thankful for anything they have in life, it sure made me step back and look at the love and happy things that are in my life.
 * Review by Barnes and Noble:**
 * Why this book is important to me:**

= Mrs. Jack's comments: I picked this book during the peer share project. I will admit I had never read a single Nicholas Spark's book before this one--- I'm not the type for mushy romances...but I LOVED the theme of family love and forgiveness that poured through the pages of this novel=