Review: THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Zusak, Markus. 2006. The Book Thief. Read by Allan Corduner. New York: Random House Listening Library. ISBN 0-7393-3800-5. Text ISBN 0-375-83100-2

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Liesel Meminger is a young girl in Nazi Germany. She is introduced as “The Book Thief” by the narrator, who in an interesting twist, identifies himself as “Death.” Liesel watched her brother die on the way to her foster family; a rough, but loving foster mother and a compassionate foster father.  Liesel learns to be street-smart and an excellent soccer player. She and her best friend Rudy, also become accomplished thieves. The items Liesel finds irresistible are books. She steals her first one at age 10, when a grave-digger at her brother’s funeral drops a copy of “The Gravedigger’s Manual” in the snow. Though not able to read, Liesel keeps the book, and it is this book which she reads first when her foster father teaches her to read. Liesel’s book collection grows to include books given to her, stolen from a book-burning and from the mayor’s wife’s library, and made for her by the Jew hidden in the basement.

During the bombing raids, Liesel reads to neighbors and even to the Jewish man who was hidden in their basement. As the book progresses, Liesel matures from a young, frightened, illiterate girl who is haunted by nightmares of her brother’s death, to youth who comforts and provides escape for her neighbors during bombing raids. While she continues to survive through more tragic deaths of friends and family, Liesel becomes an adult who uses the power of words to record her own life and experiences.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

By using “Death” as the narrator of this story, Markus Zusak immediately captures the attention of the reader. The book contains a realistic picture of Nazi Germany, with mention made of Hitler Youth, bombings, mandatory service in the Nazi army. In the author’s note contained in the text, Zusak tells that he based some of the scenes in the story on his mother’s memories of growing up in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is a believable character who rises above her circumstances and finds that books and indeed words are powerful treasures which can make life bearable and offer hope in the midst of the scenes of horror and violence.

Allan Corduner does an excellent job as the voice of “Death” in the 11 CD audio version of this book. His voice is rich and deep as “Death” but sharpens or gets softer in tone depending on the character being represented. In the prologue, “Death and Chocolate”, Corduner’s voice has a friendly, almost teasing quality as “Death” advises: “Just don’t ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.” When “Death” makes a last note to the reader, Corduner’s voice has a puzzled tone in his final statement “I am haunted by humans.” This story is powerful, thought provoking and captivating. It is intended for ages 12 and up, and should not be read by younger children due to language and content themes.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL starred review: "Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of a sophisticated teen and adult readers. A mesmerizing and original story."

THE HORN BOOK starred review:  "A tour de force to be not just read but inhabited."

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: With quick vocal strokes, Corduner paints vivid, provocative portraits of Germans and Jews under unfathomable duress and the ripple effect such circumstances have on their lives.

5. CONNECTIONS

*This novel should be taught or listened to in conjunction with WWII History. Students should research Germany during WWII using library and internet sources. They could use a Venn diagram or T chart to compare the information learned from the book with the non-fiction information found on-line.

*Other Young Adult books by Markus Zusak:

Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger. ISBN 9780375836671

Zusak, Markus. Getting The Girl. ISBN 043938950X

Zusak, Markus. Fighting Ruben Wolfe. ISBN 0439241871

Review: RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE by Shannon and Dean Hale

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale. 2008. Rapunzel’s Revenge. Ill. by Nathan Hale. New York: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books. ISBN 1-59990-070-X

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Rapunzel is no fading violet in this graphic novel version of the classic fairy tale. This Rapunzel has attitude, and is determined to get answers. Rapunzel is raised by Mother Gothel inside of a beautiful villa, but she wonders what is on the other side of the high walls surrounding the villa. One day she manages to look over the wall, and is horrified to find the dreadful conditions outside of the villa. Worse still, she discovers her real mother, who is forced to work in Mother Gothel’s mines.

Determined to make things right, Rapunzel confronts the woman who she now knows to be her kidnapper, only to be thrown into a high tower deep in a mysterious woods. With nothing to do but create tricks to perform with her hair, which is now growing ridiculously long, Rapunzel plots her escape. Finally her hair is long enough, and Rapunzel uses it as a rope to descend from her tower and make her getaway. Rapunzel forgoes the offer of help from this story’s version of prince charming, but later teams up with an outlaw named Jack, (of beanstalk folklore), and off they go to undo the evil Mother Gothel has done in the land and free Rapunzel’s mother.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Young readers will be vastly entertained by this new twist on an old tale. Shannon and Dean Hale bring to life a strong-willed female protagonist who is determined to right wrongs, and restore things to order. There is a touch of the southwest in this twisted fairy tale, as Rapunzel learns to use her long hair as a lasso, ropes and rides a wild boar, (until Prince Charming shoots it), whips guns from the hands of the bad guys with her long tresses, and fights off cantankerous coyotes. The witty, humorous dialogue and adventures make sense in the world the authors have created by mixing various fairy tales, and scenes straight from an old-west tall tale.

Rapunzel’s Revenge is told in entertaining captions with tongue-in-cheek style which is enhanced by the imaginative illustrations of Nathan Hale. For example, Rapunzel tells the reader that she managed to “lasso a tree and swing gracefully from her prison, climb down the tree’s branches, and land triumphantly on the forest floor”. The corresponding illustrations show her crashing into the tree, tumbling and falling through the breaking branches, and landing with a “splosh” in a pond at the forest floor. This amusing story with its humorous characters and magical graphics will become a favorite of the 5^th through 8^th grade readers who are its intended audience.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: With its can-do heroine, witty dialogue and romantic ending, this graphic novel has something for nearly everybody. Ages 10-up.
ALAN REVIEW: While Rapunzel's Revenge is definitely the stuff of high adventure and the old West, it is very much a story about growing up female, taking chances, negotiating potentially dangerous landscapes, confronting cruelty and loss, and re-finding the nurture and comfort that can be had in love.
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive.

5. CONNECTIONS
*Comparison/contrast: Students should read the original Grimm Brother’s version of Rapunzel and use a T-chart or Venn diagram to compare it to Rapunzel’s Revenge. For more challenge, they could also watch the movie Tangled, and compare all three.
*Students should choose a fairy tale they are familiar with and put their own twist on it. They can illustrate, use text boxes and show the protagonist from a different point of view.
* Other Graphic Novels
Hale, Dean and Shannon Hale. Calamity Jack. ISBN 9781599903736
Valentino, Serena. Once Upon a Time (Nightmares & Fairy Tales, Vol. 1). ISBN 9780943151878
Hoena.  Jack and the Beanstalk: The Graphic Novel. ISBN 1434208621

Review: JOEY PIGZA LOSES CONTROL by Jack Gantos

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gantos, Jack. 2000. Joey Pigza Loses Control. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN 0374399891

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Joey Pigza is going to spend the summer with the father he has never met. When Joey’s mother takes Joey and his beloved Chihuahua, Pablo, to his father’s house for court ordered visitation, Joey is nervous about meeting the father who his mother says is “wired like him, only bigger.” Joey has learned to manage his ADHD with medication patches and techniques he was taught in Special Ed. classes, but still feels different. His father, on the other hand, is as wired as Joey was without medication, and self-medicates with alcohol. Joey is able to connect to his father through baseball, because his father, Carter, is coaching a team and discovers that Joey has a great pitching arm. During the troubled time of the visit, Joey’s father decides that Joey needs to stop taking his ADHD medication and take control of his own life, so he flushes the patches down the toilet. Joey knows it’s only a matter of time until the old out of control Joey shows up.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this second book of the Joey Pigza series, Jack Gantos continues the evolution of a believable character who other children can relate to. This story shows Joey coping with the problems of divorced parents, ADHD, and a grandmother who is very ill. Gantos has created a story with a tone which is both serious and humorous. Joey’s father’s alcoholism and denial that he has a problem makes it difficult for Joey to build the relationship he desperately wants with his father. Joey’s somewhat gruff Grandmother is seriously ill with emphysema and still smoking. Joey would secretly like it if his parents got back together, but both assure him that isn’t going to happen. Joey struggles to control his own ADHD and try to be a normal kid. There are humorous situations in the story too. Joey shuts poor Pablo in the glove box because he throws up in the car, refuses to pitch unless Pablo can be there with him, (tucked inside of his shirt), and poses as a mannequin in a store window. Readers will be drawn into this story as Joey grows to understand himself and the often fallible people who are important in his life.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY review: "Like its predecessor, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, this high-voltage, honest novel mixes humor, pain, fear and courage with deceptive ease."
BOOKLIST review: “Few children these days don't know someone wrestling with ADHD; meeting up with Joey is a fine way to gain insight into the problems "hyper" children face. But the story is more than message. Gantos’ skillful pacing, sly humor, and in-depth characterization make it a truly memorable read.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*An ideal opening for a class discussion about current issues, and how children can cope with them in constructive ways.
*On page 52, Joey says that he feels like two Joeys: Mom’s Joey & Dad’s Joey. He asks his dad if he has ever felt like two people at once. Ask students if they have ever felt like two people at once. Have them write a composition explaining how they felt and why they felt that way.
*Students should pretend they are Joey writing a letter or post card to his Mom. What would they say?
*Joey and his dad connect over baseball. Students could create baseball cards using the characters in the story as the players. How would they describe each one? They could include Joey’s grandma, and even Pablo.

Gantos, Jack. 2000. Joey Pigza swallowed the key. ISBN 0-613-28228-0
Gantos, Jack. 2002. What would Joey do? ISBN 0-374-39986-7
Gantos, Jack. 2007. I am not Joey Pigza. ISBN 0374399417