Movie Review: The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief
Rating: PG-13

Our Rating: 5/5

Plot: Even though she couldn't read, Liesel Meminger's life changed when she picked up The Grave Digger's Handbook at her brother's graveside. After her brother's unexpected death, she is sent to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Her new foster father teaches her to read, and from that point on, she can't get enough of it. When Hans and Rosa hide a Jew in their basement, Liesel is curious of this young man named Max. In their time together, Liesel and Max form a friendship, and he challenges her to be creative with the words given to her, and to hold on to hope (taken from Elinor's book review).

This movie was incredible! It was very heartfelt, inspiring, and encouraging. The actors that they chose portrayed the characters beautifully and true to the book. We loved this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone of appropriate age (most likely 12+, depending on maturity). Fair warning though, grab a box of tissue before you sit down!

Characters

Liesel Meminger: Being the main character of the story, Liesel is the person you grow closest to. She is inspiring because even though she has nearly everything taken from her, she never gives up hope. Her fascination with words, then books is brilliantly expressed and easy to relate to :).

Hans Hubermann: Hans is Liesel's adoptive father and one of the most endearing characters of the story. His immediate love for Liesel makes him wonderful from the moment you first see him. He is the one who first introduces Liesel to words and what they mean. Their relationship was unforgettable.

Rosa Hubermann: Rosa is Liesel's adoptive mother. She is a woman who very rarely lets her emotions show, even though she is a loving and caring mother. Her personality is perfectly portrayed in the movie as having a huge heart, but a temper to cover it up.

Rudy Steiner: As already shared in Elinor's book friends, Rudy Steiner is an unforgettable character (he's our favorite :)). He, like Hans, is smitten with Liesel from the moment he sees her. He is the friend for her that she needed; the friend that won't let her give up. 

Max Vandenburg: Max is a Jew who Liesel's family hides from the Nazis. He challenges her to use her words to express herself in ways she never imagined. She in turn, encourages him during the most challenging and frightening 3 years of his whole life.

Elinor's Thoughts: After I saw this movie when it came out in November, I HAD to read the book! And that made the movie even better to me! Now I'm not going to lie here, the book was better than the movie (as is always the case in my opinion), but I think that as far as movies based on books goes, this is the closest I think that it's ever gotten. The characters especially, were portrayed perfectly. And while you didn't get to know them as closely as you did in the book, you fell in love with each and everyone of them. I think that it is an inspiring story that I would highly recommend! This movie will always be a favorite and every time I watch it I will remember reading the book.

Favorite Quote:

"The only thing worse than a boy who hates you is a boy who loves you."

Marianne's Thoughts: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen! It is DEFINITELY an all-time favorite! If you haven't seen it, you're really missing out; you absolutely must see it! Fair warning though, if you cry at movies often, you will seriously cry at this one. Even if you don't cry at movies often you will cry at this one! I'm a crier; I cry at movies quite often, so when my mom and sister (who saw it before me) said that I would cry I was like "Oh, OK," I mean, I didn't think it would make me cry that hard. I don't wanna give anything away, but I have never cried at a movie as hard as I did at The Book Thief.  Also, open wounds or large amounts of blood bother me and make me light-headed, and being that this was a "war movie" I had my mom and sister watch it first. Just so you know (in case you're like me) there was no blood or wounds or anything gory. 

  Due to some violence, language, and the sheer heartbreak shown in the movie, I would recommend it to an older, mature audience. I absolutely LOVED this movie and HIGHLY recommend watching it (I wanna read the book now)! You can read our mom's movie review HERE!

Favorite Quote:
"I'm not lost to you, Liesel. You'll always be able to find me in your words. That's where I'll live on."

Book Friends #3

Marianne's Choice:

Emma Smallwood from The Tutor's Daughter

By Julie Klassen

   I would have loved to be friends with Miss Smallwood because she and I are so much alike! We are both sweet young women, but we are very... practical. Neither of us spend much time on our appearance (like doing hair and make-up) and we both love to have things under control. There are times, however, when things are completely out of my control and I must learn to put my faith in God and trust that He will take care of everything. Miss Smallwood faces these same challenges.

   I know that I would have LOVED being friends with Emma! She is the kind of person that would always be there for you!  I loved reading about Emma's struggles and victories. I laughed and cried for her, and just enjoyed getting to know her! If you have not yet read her story, you really MUST do so. It is certainly an incredible one that is so worth reading! You can get more details on it by reading my review for The Tutor's Daughter HERE!

Elinor's Choice:
Rudy Steiner from The Book Thief
By Markus Zusak

   Rudy. Where do I even begin? Well, I will start out by saying that I think that he is my favorite book character of all time (and that is saying a lot). Have you ever begun to miss a character after you've finished reading their story? It happens to me all the time! But you know what? I don't think I've ever missed a character as much as I missed Rudy. I grew so close to him when reading The Book Thief, that I felt like he really was my friend. He is just one of those characters that I will never forget.

   Rudy is the friend that you just can't get rid of, no matter how hard you try. He's the friend that you can't remember when exactly you stopped being annoyed by him, and started loving him. He's the friend that can make you laugh more than anyone else, and who always has your back. He is by far, your best friend. 

  Before I met Rudy, I don't think I had ever "fallen in love" with a book character before... he changed that.

  You can read my review for The Book Thief here.

Book Review: The Book Thief

Review by Elinor

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Rating: 4/5

Plot: Even though she couldn't read, Liesel Meminger's life changed when she picked up The Grave Digger's Handbook at her brother's graveside. After her brother's unexpected death, she is sent to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Her new foster father teaches her to read, and from that point on, she can't get enough of it. When Hans and Rosa hide a Jew in their basement, Liesel is curious of this young man named Max. In their time together, Liesel and Max form a friendship, and he challenges her to be creative with the words given to her, and to hold on to hope.

This book was beautifully heartbreaking. I really don't know how else to put it. It was one of the most devastating stories I have ever read, but it was mixed with just enough hope and humor to make it bearable. I think that the writing used to tell this story was absolutely incredible. The story itself is one that I know I will never forget. Set in 1940s Nazi Germany, it showed a side of the World War II that I never really considered.

Characters: I don't think that I have ever bonded with characters of a book as well as I did with the ones of The Book Thief. I fell in love with every single one of them, most especially Hans Hubermann. Other than him though, Rudy (who becomes Liesel's closest friend) had to be my favorite. Those two characters had me laughing and crying the most.

Emotion: As you can probably already tell, this book was very emotional. If you are looking for a light-hearted, fun story, this is not it. However, it has to be one of the most touching stories I have ever read. There was humor in the book as well as sorrow, but as I said before, it was only enough to make it bearable.

Thoughts: Out of all the good things of this book, I chose to rate it 4/5 because of the use of profanity throughout. Although this book didn't have an inappropriate word in every chapter, the humor that was expressed in the book was usually expressed with one. If it weren't for this, I would rate this book 500/5, but the language used made me feel uncomfortable on numerous occasions, and I felt that it was something that needed to be mentioned in my review. For this reason, and for the over-all heaviness of the sorrow in the book, I would only recommend this book to a more mature audience.

Favorite Quotes:

The only thing worse than a boy who hates you:

a boy who loves you

She was home, among the mayor's books of every color and description, with their silver and gold lettering. She could smell the pages. She could almost taste the words as they stacked up around her.

In the tree shadows, Liesel watched the boy. How things had changed, from fruit stealer to bread giver. His blond hair, although darkening, was like a candle. She heard his stomach growl - and he was giving people bread.

...I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.