Under the stairs in her home, a jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents. The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by markus zusak. Its just a small story really, about among other things. The book thief is a story about the power of words and the ability of books to feed the soul. Save death as narrator in markus zusaks the book thief. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. The book was published in multiple languages including spanish, consists of 531 pages and is available in paperback format. In the basement of her home, a jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents. See a complete list of the characters in the book thief and indepth analyses of liesel meminger, max vandenburg, hans hubermann, and rudy. Based on the beloved international bestselling book, the book thief tells the story of an extraordinary, spirited young girl sent to live with a foster family in wwii germany. With sophie nelisse, geoffrey rush, emily watson, ben schnetzer.