It is 1939.  Nazi Germany.  The country is holding its breath.
Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger finds her life changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow.  It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery.  So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read.  Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.  But these are dangerous times.  When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish man in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

MARKUS ZUSAK is the author of Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Getting the Girl, and I Am the Messenger, which received a Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award.  On his reasons for writing The Book Thief, Markus explains, "As writers do, I begin every book knowing it will mean something to me, but with The Book Thief I've been very fortunate.  It's the book that means everything to me."

ALLAN CORDUNER's numerous feature film credits include Daniel Deronda, Moonlight Mile, Topsy Turvy, Talk Radio, Yentl, and The Imposters.