The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a very famous historical fiction book of this decade. This 550-page book has encouraged many teenagers to learn more about the Holocaust, a genocide that took place during World War II. Markus Zusak wrote this book based on information from his parents' memories, not based on a modern conflict. His parents' experiences during the war greatly influenced him. Although many of the characters in this book are fictional, the origins, cities, events, and actions are historically accurate. Although The Book Thief was not written during World War II, Zusak was still surrounded by people who were there to witness it. Liesel Meminger, the protagonist of the story is an adopted girl with blonde hair and a frightening pair of chocolate brown eyes. She is taken in by the Hubermanns when her father abandons his family and her mother is forced to give her up for adoption. She is very close to her adoptive father, Hans Hubermann, and has a difficult but loving relationship with her adoptive mother, Rosa. She becomes friends with Max and the mayor's wife. The mayor's wife allows Liesel to read, borrow and "steal" books from her personal library. Liesel also makes friends with other children on Himmel Street. Liesel eventually marries Max and moves to Australia. She has several children and grandchildren. Liesel dies in Sydney. Hans Hubermann, Liesel's adoptive father, works as a painter and enjoys rolling and smoking cigars. He served in the German army during World War I. During the Holocaust, he disagreed with the Nazi Party but was forced to join it. After being accepted into the Nazi Party, he was drafted into the German army. He has silver-gray eyes and is tall, although despite this he is described as being very capable of bleeding... middle of paper... uh, and Liesel becomes quite the book thief. She saves Jewish books from Nazi book burnings and steals from the mayor's library. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her precious books to teach her to read. Eventually, Liesel marries Max and moves to Australia. She has several children and grandchildren. Liesel ends up dying in Sydney. It is a story of courage, companionship, affection, survival, death and grief. This is Liesel's life on Himmel Street, as told by Death. There are two major themes in this book that are experienced at all times in everyone's life. These themes are “survivor’s guilt” and “abandonment.” This book should be read by everyone. This book has many beneficial themes for people in their lives. I think this book is interestingly written for an important piece of history.