This book is so amazing. I thought this was the best book i've ever read in my entire life, and I've read a lot of books. It's dark, cruel, powerful messages changed my life.

The language is inappropriate for middle school. It has very powerful themes, so encourage it to your high school students!

i this story is about a girl whose brother dies and mom abandons her the story is a book written by death the story is just fantastic the story is dense for young readers but for those who can understand it give it to them age is not a factor only the ability to understand the book is needed so dont worry about your kid being taught to do bad things

Wow. All the reviewers that liked it said a lot of the stuff that I noticed while I was reading this book too, but a lot said that there is many to say about this book. But let me tell you, if I were to choose only one book that I can call 5 stars--i would choose this "Young Adult" novel. It is a masterpiece, this book should be read by all, grandparents, adults, and young adults. And the book may look dense, but trust me--even though the book is slow paced, you will find yourself enchanted by the dark humor, brutality, and just plain magic. After u read this your views of WWII will completely change--as this is not an Anne Frank but a dark portrayal of the poor Germans, u will find yourself thinking a different of life in WWII. And after u read this--well, i could just say this book can be life changing. The book has a unique narrative style. By death. Yes that is true, death does narrate--but the style is not exactly a narrative nor a poetic style. The genre is hard to point out here, and the story is quite simple: Leisel, a German girl is being adopted by a crazy woman and sweet man in Munich--as she steals books to read them to everyone. But soon you will find yourself intrigued by the complexity of this epic. A Jewish man starts living in there basement. Air raids are everywhere. Leisel has a best friend named Rudy. The Jewish man and Leisel have much in common. And many more happens in this story. But the story is not the main thing, yes, Zusak does try to make sense of the horrors of WWII--but the main thing is... the amazing writing and meaning. This book is some way you can poetic, and in many ways brutal. Sometimes the book can be dark, but at many moments you will hear yourself crying out loud in laughter. Parents need to know that this book is quite dense at a whopping 576 pages. Also your child may have trouble reading this book--figuring out its style can be confusing. The swearing is mainly in German, but there are some infrequent uses of s--t. The violence is surprisingly almost never occurring, but there are two moderately graphic beatings and air raids(nothing detailed). I have explained about 0.1% of how wonderful this book is. Trust me. Buy the book. You will feel the same way as me--really wanting to say how great it is, but finding it hard to explain. Overall this book is highly recommended for teens, adults, and anyone else above the age of a teen.

Great book for older teens and young adults.