The book thief, by Markus Zusak

I've finally read this book published in 2005. Like "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas" it also was marketed for a young audience, being everything but a children's book. Like that book, it's also set in Nazi Germany during WWII, the protagonist is a german kid, and there is a special relationship with a Jew.
And it's completely different.
In "the Boy in Stripped Pajamas" you see evil through the imaginative eyes of innocence. In this book you see evil in the face, and you realize the power of words, which can save you or damn you.
The narrator of the story is Death - yes, old non-scythe nor cape wearing Death, who, as you may suppose, was grossly overworked in WWII - who came across the story of a little book thief, by the name of Liesel Meminger.
At the beginning of the story Liesel is a 9 year old girl, whose mother is taking her and her brother to live with foster parents. The reason? Let's just say that in Nazi Germany being a communist was almost as bad as being a Jew. Liesel's father had already been taken away, her mother soon to follow.
In the trip to the foster parent's town, Liesel's brother dies. It's in the cemetery where she commits her first book theft, stealing a manual about gravedigging so she can remember her brother.
Liesel arrives to Himmel Strasse (Heaven Street), which unlike its lofty name is in the worst part of town. There she meets her foster parents: foul mouthed Rosa, and gentle, accordion player Hans Hubermann. She also meets the neighboring children, among whom lemon haired Rudy Steiner stands out. Not only has Rudy a reputation of being crazy (after the "Jesse Owens" episode, named after the olympic african american athlete, in which Rudy painted himself black with charcoal and ran the 100 meters in the night), he also is a ladies man in the making, as he will show time and time again, always begging for a kiss from Liesel.
Between soccer games and the gentleness of Hans, who teaches her to read in the nights after Liesel wakes up from her nightmares, Liesel settles in Himmel Street. Being poor, Liesel soon runs out of reading material, but she seizes her opportunity at a Nazi book burning and rescues a book from the flames.
The mayor's wife sees her, and later invites her to make use of her library. However, both fell apart after her hostess has to dismiss Rosa, who used to do her laundry to earn some extra money, due to the hardships of war. Liesel starts to steal books from the well provided mayor's library, usually with the help of Rudy.
It's in the middle of the war when Max, a jewish fist fighter, comes to Hans for help. His father saved Hans life in the previous war and teached to play the accordion. Hans hides him in his basement, where Max discovers that he and Liesel share a love for words.
Through the bombings, Liesel reads her stolen books, finding and giving comfort with them. Max also writes a couple of short books for Liesel out of the pages of "Mein Kampf", telling her of the power of words that turned Germany into a tyranny.
Of course, nothing can stay the same way, and there's a reason why the narraton visited Himmel Street.
I liked this book. The darkness of the setting is balanced by the story focusing on the children.