About the book: "It is 1939, Nazi Germany.  The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement." (Amazon.com)

Students will be responsible for reading assigned chapters on their own and being prepared to discuss the text during class time. The syllabus for this class is as follows:

Day 1: Introduction to the Holocaust and to the novel, point of view, characterization of protagonist and supporting characters, foreshadowing (pp. 1-107)
Day 2: Introduction to more characters, Kristallnacht -- Night of Broken Glass (pp. 108-222)
Day 3: Symbolism, The Hitler Youth (pp. 223-324)
Day 4: The Bombing of Cologne, Auschwitz, The Long Walk to Dachau (pp. 325-430)
Day 5: End of novel and discussion of theme (pp. 431-550)

This class is designed for advanced readers who are willing to read 100+ pages between class meetings. Students will be expected to share their ideas and analysis of the novel with their fellow students. My role will be to moderate discussion, not lecture. At the end of this course, students will have a better understanding of the time period and how the author used literary elements to develop theme.