"When Death has a story to tell, you listen" - The Book Thief (Citation provided below)

Told from Death's perspective, the novel follows Liesel Meminger who is a young girl whose mother gave her up to foster care and whose brother has recently passed. But when she steals a book from the gravediggers who bury her brother, Liesel sets her life on an unexpected path. Adopted by the Hubermanns, she lives life in Nazi Germany as normally as she can. These are dangerous times that are made even more dangerous by the fact that her family takes in a Jewish man and hides him in their basement. Liesel's world becomes both incredibly big and small all in the same moment and she must do her best to survive in an increasingly deadly environment aided by the help of a few friends, her adoptive family, a set of stolen books, and Death himself.

In this novel study, students will read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Through our novel study, students will get an introduction to World War II and the Holocaust. During this time, students will be encouraged to ask questions and to talk out the topics of the novel as they can be tough at times. But through our discussions and the opportunities to share our thoughts about the text and its history, students will have the opportunity to really gain a deep understanding of the novel and its historical events and to gain a deeper understanding of the power of language, words, and actions.

Below is a schedule that we will follow. While the schedule is here, the class will vary depending on student needs and interests. Each group is unique, so each class session will be run differently as determined by the students, the reading, and our discussions. If you have a question, please let me know! In each class, students will participate in Socratic Discussions!

Schedule:
Week One, Day One: Introduction
     - Welcome and Introduction 
     - Introduction to the Novel and the Author
     - Introduction to World War II and the Holocaust
     - Resources for Historical Context
     - Setting Up for Class

Week One, Day Two: Reading #1
     - Death as a Character
     - Liesel Meminger Character Analysis
     - Color and Name Symbolism
     - Communism and the Holocaust
     - The Hubermanns Character Analysis
     - Jesse Owens

Week Two, Day One: Reading #2
     - Stolen Books
     - The Importance of Literature and Words
     - Diction (Word Choice)
     - Hitler's Birthday and Book Burning
     - Mein Kampf
     - Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

Week Two, Day Two: Reading #3
     - Irony (and Mein Kampf)
     - Music and Sport Symbolism
     - Diction (Word Choice) 
     - Propaganda (What is It and How was It Used?)
     - Dream Interpretation and Symbolism
     - The Power of Written Word

Week Three, Day One: Reading #4
     - Probability (Chance, and Luck)
     - Number Symbolism
     - Max's Sketches and Stories

Week Three, Day Two: Reading #5
     - The Snowman (Weather Symbolism)
     - Paradox Definition and Discussion
     - World War II, German Bombings
     - Hidden People, Bombings, and Danger
     - Food Symbolism
     - The Hitler Youth

Week Four, Day One: Reading #6
     - Bomb Shelters and Preparations
     - Youth and Innocence
     - What it Means to be a Child and an Adult
     - The Emergence of the Holocaust and Understanding
     - Double-Entendre (Words with Two Different Meanings)

Week Four, Day Two: Reading #7
     - Max's Leaving
     - Dominoes
     - Use of a Dictionary (Denotation and Connotation)

Week Five, Day One: Reading #8
     - Hans Hubermann's Leaving
     - The Collector
     - The Bread Eaters (Speaking and Acting on Things)
     - Wordshakers (The Power of Words and Actions)
     - Stalingrad, Russia

Week Five, Day Two: Reading #9
     - Death Walks
     - The End of the World, The End of the War
     - Max's Return
     - The Book Thief by Liesel Meminger
     - Heaven Street
     - "I am haunted by humans"

Citation: 
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.