On 7/30/07, Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." > <[email protected]> on Monday, July 30, 2007 at 1:01 PM -0500 wrote: > >Bill, what grade would you see the Book Thief appropriate for? > > Hi! > > I made that posting on behalf of Betsy, who had some difficulty with a > message she had sent not getting through. She may have a better idea than > I do. My son (aged 13) read it in 5th grade, and says that a kid steals > from his parents, in general there's a lot of stealing, and kids might get > threatened. He didn't seem to think there'd be any particular problem with > using it in middle school. > > Take care, > Bill Ivey > Stoneleigh-Burnham School
I don't think your son is thinking about the same book. *The Book Thief* only came out sometime last year I believe. He may be thinking about *The Thief Lord*, by Cornelia Funke. Let me you out. *The Book Thief*, by Marcus Zusak, is literature. It is not an easy read. It is about a young girl who goes to live in a German working class town. During her journey there, she caught the eye of Death, the books narrator, when he comes for her little brother. The language is rich and compelling. It is set in the era of WWII. The story follows Liesel Meminger through her time in this neighborhood, having been taken in by an older couple and coming to terms with the complexities of Nazi Germany, which, by the way, serves as the backdrop but doesn't overshadow the story. I believe Zusak has penned a classic. As to readers...I would chose to present this book to sophisticated middle school readers, or read it aloud as I will be doing this fall. > Tena _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
