The Book Thief - Stealer of Hearts and Books

Check out our coverage of the movie release, The Book Thief! This is the introduction to a series of posts by my friend David Yenoki, who also blogs at cleverbee.org. He had the opportunity to meet the lead actors, the director, and the author of the book on which the movie was based. He will be posting about their interviews over the next few days, so check back again soon!



So there’s this movie, The Book Thief. It’s based on a book.

I think you should go see it.

I saw a sneak preview of this movie and I liked it--definitely in the top ten of the year. Wasn’t animated by Pixar or had 3-D dinosaurs trying to eat people.




Instead this film has heart and soul, and I think that’s pretty important. I don’t do a very good job of describing the film because… it’s a difficult film to describe. I don’t want to give away too much about the story because I think there’s something great or thrilling when you’re surprised by the unexpected and I want you to have that. I really do. And then I also have problems because there are very sensitive subjects to balance because the moment you talk about World War II there’s a definite emotional weight that loads people's expectations.

This is not a film about concentration camps. This is a film about a little girl named Liesel. She’s quite an exceptional little girl. She can’t read, she has no money, and she can’t perform magic. She loses her family at the beginning of the film. But still. She perseveres and she overcomes and she’s a great example of what I want to see in the world. Liesel doesn’t let her disadvantages and misfortunes stop her from living and loving.



It should not be a great plot spoiler that Liesel is the book thief in the movie title. This is not a mystery thriller where a little girl hides in the shadows waiting for people to leave books unattended and swoops in to steal them. When I first heard the title “The Book Thief” I assumed it was about some guy who goes around stealing books. I am prone to make assumptions like this. When I first saw the movie I thought “this is a movie about suffering,” but I think that was because I had a pressing bladder, so I was suffering.

Later I came to the conclusion that the movie is about Liesel and her personal strength and her growth as a person. I found this to be inspiring which is why I feel the need to encourage people to watch the film. See it with your family. It has been rated PG-13 and perhaps may be too much for younger children who may not be ready for book burning, air raid shelters, and German cursing.

People around Los Angeles can watch The Book Thief at the Arclight Hollywood and the Landmark. This Friday, November 15th it opens up to a wider release.




For more information, check out the official website www.thebookthief.com
Like the movie on Facebook
Follow @thebookthiefmovie on Twitter
Use the hashtag #TheBookThief on Twitter and Instagram

Based on the beloved bestselling book, THE BOOK THIEF tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Sophie Nélisse, Ben Schnetzer, and Nico Liersch. It was directed by Brian Percival (Downton Abbey), with a screenplay by Michael Petroni, based upon the novel by Markus Zusak. The film was produced by Karen Rosenfelt and Ken Blancato for Fox 2000.

Review Policy

BOOK POLICY & RATING SYSTEM


Our Policy:
All of the book reviewers on this site are passionate readers who love and enjoy literature for children and teens.  Each review that is posted is intended to give readers of this blog enough information to determine if a particular book may be of interest to them.  Many of the books reviewed on this site are purchased from a bookstore or checked out from the library.  At times, we have received Advanced Readers Copies of books from authors, publishers, or publicists. We are not and have not been paid for our reviews.

When agreeing to review a book, we do not guarantee a fully favorable review but one that we believe is honest and fair.  Additionally, due to the fact that all of the reviewers on this site have full-time jobs or are full-time students, we are unable to promise a time-frame in which to review a book.  As a result, we are limiting the number of books that we request for review.

We are happy to consider requests for author interviews, guest posts, and blog tours.  The priority will be given to authors and illustrators of non-fiction picture books, picture books, or middle grade novels.

Self-Published and Specialty Publishers:

At the beginning of the blog, we were willing to review self-published books.  Unfortunately, after considering several books that we did not feel that we could promote on the blog, we have elected not to accept self-published books for review. Any requests asking for a review will be deleted.

Review Ratings:

Over the course of last year, we have opted to not include ratings on books.  It is our goal to provide enough material in the review, including when possible book descriptions, book trailers, and other information that can be used to determine if the book would be of interest to individual readers.  With that said, we understand that not every book is for every reader and that others may have differing opinions on the books that we have selected to review.

Additionally, we have elected not to post reviews of books that we are unable to positively promote. However, that does not mean that these are the only books that we have enjoyed over the course of a reading year.  Each of us maintain GoodReads accounts where you can look at additional reviews of books.

Thank you for checking out our review policy.

MAX-imum Exposure Blog Tour

Welcome to the MAX-imum Exposure Tour for the 13 to Life Series by Shannon Delany

The MAX-imum Exposure Tour kicks-off with a fun interview of the Rusakova Brothers.  For those of you who have read 13 to Life, you will know that Pietr and Max are two very hot shapeshifters.  Today, I had a chance to ask them a few questions.  And you will definitely want to check back tomorrow for a review of Secrets & Shadows and a chance to win some swag. 

Aly: Max, if you found the right girl, what is one essential thing (yeah, other than you turn into a wolf) that you would want her to know or understand about you?

Max: That I hate when people change the radio station while I drive?

Aly: Funny. The truth, Max. One thing the right girl should know.

Max: That if she wants to be the center of my world I need to be the center of hers.

Aly: Max, this one's also for you. Learning the truth about Alexi seems to have been more significant to you than to the twins in the sense of betrayal more heightened. Why do you think this is true?

Max: I always thought Sasha--Alexi was my brother. I thought I could trust him. He was the alpha when our parents... He was the one I went out with whenever Pietr disappeared with his thoughts and his books. I always thought he was the most like me--but he is a traitor. Nothing about him was real.

Aly: Pietr, what is one thing about Jessica that makes her more unique to you than any other girl you've known and why?

Pietr: There is more than one thing. Jess has a level of compassion that I have never seen before. she tries so hard to do the right thing even if it hurts her--I know I can trust her much better than I've trusted any other girl I've dated before.

Aly: Pietr, since you and Cat are twins, how do you see your connection with her being different than with say Max or with other members of your family?

Pietr: It is more than just being twins. Cat and I can talk about anything. She is clever and caring and we just connect better. Alexi--he has an agenda. Max--a short attention span. I would need to have breasts for Max to want to sit still long enough to have a real conversation with me.

Aly: Both of you, if someone would turn on your iPod or MP3 player, what songs would be on it at the moment? And are you someone that sets it on random or do you prefer to play a song list over and over again?

Max: Random. Mine has songs by Linkin Park, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Blink 182, Stone Sour and MCR--My Chemical Romance.

Aly: Pietr? What about yours?

Pietr: It depends on my mood. Sometimes I want to hear a song again and again until it is just a hum in my brain.

Aly: And what groups are on your MP3 player, Pietr?

Pietr: Snow Patrol, The Spill Canvas, Duran Duran, Queen, The Killers, Nickelback, All-American Rejects and Thriving Ivory.

Aly: Thank you both for stopping by.

To listen to the interview, please click on the image below.



Shannon Delany is the winner of the first-ever cell phone novel contest in the western world and the author of the 13 to Life series through St. Martin's Press. 13 to Life is already available and Secrets and Shadows hits stores 2/15/11 with Bargains and Betrayals landing on shelves 8/16/11 (already available for pre-order!)and two more as of yet unnamed novels coming out in 2012.

For more about Shannon, visit her author website: www.ShannonDelany.com or her series website: www.13toLifeseries.com You can also find Shannon on Facebook and on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/Shannon_Delany

Want a fun freebie you can print out and use with a web-cam to make a bookmark much more than a bookmark? Go here and check out the Augmented Reality bookmark: http://ht.ly/3KgG7

And make sure you join us live at 11 am EST on 2/12 for a Blog Talk Radio event with host Barry Eva, Pietr, Max and Shannon! Go here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond

Book Review - The Kneebone Boy

Author:  Ellen Potter

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (September 14, 2010)

Reading Level: Grades 4th to 8th

Source: ARC for review

Rating:  5 Stars - Highly recommend

Description from GoodReads:

The book's set in a small English town and follows the Hardscrabble kids who are relocated to live with their aunt in London, where they discover they might be living next door to “a horribly misshapen boy who has figured in local legend.” It’s the story of the three Hardscrabble siblings and their search for the legendary Kneebone Boy.

There are books that are fun to read.  There are other books that are amazingly well written.  Sometimes, though, it is a struggle to find "fun to read" and "amazingly well written" between the same covers of a book.  However, as I read through Ellen Potter's newest book The Kneebone Boy, I found myself repeating in this awestruck manner "This book is brilliant".  Both fun and well written and bound behind a spectacular cover. (Click here to read a post from Potter about the cover of the book illustrated by Jason Chan.)

The Kneebone Boy is a tale of 3 children, siblings, living in an odd home with a somewhat eccentric father in England.  There is a mystery surrounding the disappearance of their mother which permeates their lives and influences their actions.  When they find themselves on their own in London, rather than return home, they set out to find their great-aunt.  Their journey turns out to be an adventure of a lifetime.  One that will challenge and test them on many levels, but will ultimately provide them with new understanding.

I am determined not to spoil this story so if some of the details seem vague it is for exactly this reason.  Potter is a master storyteller and has crafted this novel in a manner that reveals just what needs to be at each step of the journey.  As I read each page, I never felt that I wanted more or less than what was given to me.  Even as I arrived at the end of the book, I was pleased with the manner in which she pulled together all of the aspects of the story and provided the reader with a deeply satisfying ending.

It should be noted that The Kneebone Boy is written in a style that fans of Lemony Snickets' Series of Unfortunate Events or Pseudonymous Bosch's Secret Series will be familiar with. Yet, the story begins in a very different voice and style from other novels by Potter. If you are not familiar with Snickets' or Bosch's stories, and more accustomed with Potter's traditional writing style, then I would suggest that you give the story a couple of chapters to acclimate yourself to the narrator's manner. Once in the rhythm of the story you will find yourself, enjoying the interjections and information provided by the book's narrator. I will make the argument that I truly felt as if Potter has taken her writing to a whole new level with this story. There is a richness and complexity with the story that will appeal to older Middle Grade readers and even adults who are reading along with their children.

Kudos to Ellen Potter for an amazing new book and for continuing to write outstanding literature for middle grade readers.

For more information about Ellen Potter and her books, you can check out her website here: www.ellenpotter.com

Book-A-Day Challenge Week 8

The Book-A-Day Challenge hosted by Donalyn Miller (The Book Whisper) has been one of my favorite challenges.  Not only did it really help me focus on my reading goal for this summer, but using the #bookaday hashtag on twitter introduced me to some great teachers and school librarians and added a whole community feel to the challenge.  I just want to give a shout out to some of my favorite  Book-A-Day folks: Kathy (@thebrainlair), John (@mrschu81), Jamie (@fiteach), David (@tkslibrarian), Elisha (@elishakarr), Denise (@ddigiova), Paul (@paulwhankins), and Donalyn (@donalynbooks).  If you are on twitter, go follow them.

Now onto my update, I will preface this and say it was a big picture book week.  A bookseller friend of mine gave me free reign to go through her galleys for new releases coming out in late fall/early winter. The only thing that kept me from reading more is that I actually had to get to a meeting and ran out of time.

You will also notice a lot of books by Melanie Watt included below.  When I had admitted that I hadn't read her stuff before, my friend pulled everything off her shelves for me to read.  Just for references purposes, I have indicated below the release dates for the ones not yet out.

Picture Books

The Monster Princess by D.J. MacHale, Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger - This is a debut picture book by MacHale.  Written in typical fairy tale style, MacHale tells the story of a little monster who really wants to be a beautiful princess.

Will It Be A Baby Brother? by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Beth Spiegel - A mom and her preschooler discuss the pending birth of the new baby in the family.  This big brother wants a "James" (brother).  Mother assures him that whatever he gets will be just right.

Grandma's Gloves by Cecil Castellucci, Illustrated by Julia Denos - A debut picture book by YA author Castellucci and a very wonderful one at that.  Get out your box of tissues.  There will be tears.  Castellucci does a beautiful job with telling one child's story of losing her grandmother and how she deals with her grief.

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt - Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of just about everything.  One day things don't go exactly as planned and Scaredy learns something new about himself and takes a risk.  Funny and wonderful.

Scaredy Squirrel At Night by Melanie Watt - In a similar vein as the first book in this series, Scaredy is afraid of his dreams.  What will happen to him if he falls asleep?  As with the first one, Scaredy learns a lesson and conquers a fear.

Scaredy Squirrel At The Beach by Melanie Watt  - This may have been my favorite out of the three.  Scaredy tries creating the beach at home but he is missing something that he can only get by going to the actual beach.  Once there, things don't go as planned but then readers have learned that this is the best thing for Scaredy.

Chester by Melanie Watt - I love Scaredy Squirrel but I might even love Chester more.  Chester is a very fat, orange tabby who is snarky and difficult and loves to challenge Watt.  Chester, along with his red pen, is very funny but Watt usually has a surprise and Chester gets his comeuppance at the end.

Chester's Masterpiece by Melanie Watt - As if Chester couldn't get any funnier, this time he has hidden Watt's writing and drawing materials and is writing his own story.  But never fear, Watt has the last laugh or does she?

Have I Got A Book For You! by Melanie Watt - Though this book really is having a little fun with our "hard-sell" advertising world, I couldn't help thinking about all the teachers and librarians out there who spend hours trying to find just the right book for the right kid.

You're Finally Here! by Melanie Watt  Release Date: March 1, 2011 - Bunny (a new character) is so excited that the person he has been waiting for is finally here.  To make his point, he goes through all the agonizing moments leading up to the arrival.  But there is a twist.  Read it to find out.  As with her other books, readers will delight in her humor.

Cuddle Up, Goodnight! by Katie Cleminson Release Date: February 1, 2011 - A toddler picture book for bedtime.

Pirate vs. Pirate by Mary Quattlebaum, Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger  Release Date:  March 22, 2011 - This one I want.  Two pirates compete to see who is better.  A fun book, great illustrations, and a nice lesson about what really make someone better. Boiger also  illustrated MacHale's The Monster Princess - equally well done but also very different.

What's Special About Me, Mama? by Kristina Evans, Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe Release Date: January 18, 2011 - Another one that I would like to have.  A nice addition to the category of books for preschoolers about "what is special about me?"

Before You Came by Patricia MacLachlan, Illustrations by David Diaz  Release Date:  February 8, 2011 - Fans of David Diaz will recognize the artwork in this book.  Unfortunately, there are many books for preschoolers that deal with the theme of waiting for a baby's arrival and this one does not really add anything new.

Baby Says Moo! by Joann Early Macken, Illustrated by David Walker Release Date: March 1, 2011 - This one was a nice twist on the typical toddler/preschool animal sounds.  A young toddler learning to talk refers to all animal sounds as "moo" much to the parent's frustration.

Ten Little Puppies/Diez Perritos by Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy, Illustrated by Ulises Wensell  Release Date: March 1, 2011  - On each two page spread is a poem first in Spanish and then in English. This is a nice twist on the traditional "Five little ducks" where each verse subtracts one. Illustrations are lovely. A nice addition to a bilingual Spanish classroom.

A Lot of Beans by Barry Varela, Illustrated by Sebastia Serra Release Date: March 1, 2011  - I really loved this one.  Aside from the multi-cultural aspect of the story (representing the Latino culture), the theme is very well presented.  The main character places a white bean in a jar if it is a good day, and a black bean if it is a bad day. After a series of really bad days, the boy decides to count all of the beans to see if his life is mostly good or bad. Don't want to give away the ending. But wonderful resolution and ending.

Mama and Me by Arthur Dorros, Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez Release Date: March 1, 2011 - There was something about the illustrations in this book that made it stand out.  The story about the little girl and her mother - though not especially unique - is well constructed and offers a twist on others in this category. One that I will definitely find once it is published to see if I still feel the same way.

Non-fiction Picture Books

Miss Dorothy's Book Mobile by Gloria M. Houston, Illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb  U.S. Release Date: January 25, 2011 -   This is a biographical picture book about  Dorothy Thomas who drove books to people all over the Appalachian during the 1940's.

The Great Migration by Eloise Greenfield, Illustrated by Jan Gilchrist  Release Date: December 21, 2010 - Some picture books do an amazing job of mixing text and illustrations to tell a story. I loved the combination in this book. The Great Migration tells of one African American family's migration from the south to the north. One that I will definitely look for upon it's release.

Early Chapter Books

Judy Moody by Megan McDonald, Illustrator Peter H. Reynolds - I'm not sure how I have avoided reading Judy Moody but I thought it was time to catch up.  Judy is not in a good mood.  It is the first day of school and things don't look like they are going to get any better any time soon.  Teachers will recognize the characters in the book.  The Judy Moody series is a great one for 2nd and 3rd graders and for fans of Ramona.

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee - I am behind in my 2nd & 3rd grade chapter books.  Probably because many of them annoy me.  However, I loved Clementine.  I think I might love Clementine as much as or maybe even more than Ramona.

Felix Takes the Stage (The Deadlies) by Kathryn Lasky - I think all I know about brown recluse spiders I learned from reading this book.  A family of brown recluses live in a music hall.  Felix wants to conduct an orchestra but gets a little too close to the conductor in an after hours practice and the conductor gets a surprise.  What's a spider family to do when they are forced out of their home by exterminators?  A fun early chapter book which includes a reference about spiders at the end.

Two more Book-A-Day Postings for the summer and then I will be switching over to Book-A-Week during the school year.  So how's your summer reading going?

- Aly