2. The Book Thief
There are many wonderful works of fiction written about the World War II era and many of them are, in fact, meant for younger audiences.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry was my first encounter with the circumstances of the Third Reich. Jodi Picoult's
The Storyteller is what I read most recently.
The Book Thief is a treasure for its sheer imagination. I have never seen a book narrated by Death. The narrator is not impartial, but not entirely judgmental either. Through Death's eyes, we are afforded a historian's perspective of the storyline, knowing the end from the beginning. We are able to see cause and effect while the players in this little drama are often short-sighted. This is definitely not a book to be approached lightly. The choice of narrators is appropriate because Death is a compulsory guest in each stage of the story. Death observes Liesel's efforts to save the Jew being hidden in her house. Death is there when Liesel's father is whipped for showing compassion to a Jew on his way to Dachau. Death is particularly present when Liesel meets those who have lost loved ones to the previous or current war. The great challenge of adapting this book would be finding the actresses able to carry out the whole storyline. Death meets Liesel as a nine-year-old and comes to collect her many years later. More importantly, I have no idea where to start looking for a person to cast as Death.