Costco Connection - August 2006

Steal this book
book
pick
Author finds beauty in
history’s darkest moments
Pen_pni_ıe_c’s _k

By Stephanie E. Ponder

MARKUS ZUSAK IS THE FIRST to admit his flaws. Whether it’s biting into his lip while eating a bagel or getting sunburned while surfing in the rain, he finds a certain amount of confidence in anyone who can stand up and admit a mistake. Imperfections aside, Zusak has every reason to feel confident these days as he rides the success of his latest novel, which is this month’s Buyer’s Pick,

The Book Thief.

When this Connection reporter met up with Zusak in a Seattle coffee shop, he had just finished his first U.S. book tour, including an appearance on Good Morning

America, and was preparing to head back to his native Australia the next day. Despite the busy schedule, Zusak buzzed with energy and marveled at his good fortune. “It’s been one really nice surprise after another,” he says.

The hubbub stems from a book that features Death as the narrator and follows a 9-year-old girl in Nazi

Germany who steals books and shares them with everyone, including the Jewish man hidden in her basement. Ultimately, says Zusak, the book is about the power of words and the ability of beautiful friendships to thrive in an ugly world.

Zusak’s parents planted the seeds for the novel every time they told him stories of their experiences in Germany during World War II. They talked about seeing fire in the sky and witnessing acts that mixed kindness and brutality.

Because his parents inspired the story, Zusak says it was nerve-wracking to write the novel and then have them read it. His father cried when he read the book. His mother has read it three times. But, Zusak is quick to add, she’s seen the movie Walk the Line four times—prompting him to tease her with the question of who she loves more, him

or Johnny Cash.

Although audiences at the book-tour readings and signings consisted primarily of adults, The Book Thief is labeled a young-adult book—intended for older teens. Zusak says the more-than-500-page book may be a challenge for some younger kids, but can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. His goal is to write books that transcend labels.

Despite having written five books, Zusak, 31, says the process of writing never gets any easier. “I’ve tried to never write the same book twice,” he

says. “If you set out to write a more challenging book [each time], it’s going to get harder.”

BRON W YN RENNIX

He met his match with The Book Thief. It took three years to write, with an incubation period of more than 10 years. Zusak wrote the first 80 pages nearly 200 times before getting it right. “I write every day as if it’s the final copy,” he says. “It’s got to be as spot on as it can be.”

Zusak, who lives in Sydney with his wife and newborn child, says Markus Zusak he knew from the age of 16 that he wanted to be a writer. It was then that he began a manuscript he never finished. He describes it as a work that could easily “have been entered into a contest for the worst book ever written.”

But he continued to write and had three books published in Australia before his fourth novel, I Am the Messenger, came out last year in the United States. It earned Zusak a Printz Honor for excellence in young-adult literature and a handful of other awards and honors in the U.S. and Australia. Despite those accolades, Zusak feels strongest about his latest effort.

“Whatever potential I had, I reached it now,” he tells The Connection.“Whether you love it or hate it, I do know I gave it my everything.” C

FRANCE FREEMAN

Signed book
giveaway

COSTCO HAS 10 signed copies of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief to give away.

To enter, print your name, membership number, address and daytime phone number on a postcard or letter and send it to: The Book Thief, The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088; or fax it to (425) 313-6718.

No purchase is neces-
sary. Entries must be
received or postmarked
by midnight,September
1, 2006. Void where
prohibited. Employees of
Costco and their families
are not eligible. Winners
will be notified by mail.
One entry per household.

Send your feedback
on this month’s book to:
discussionquestions@costco.com

Pennie Clark Ianniciello Costco Book Buyer

THIS MONTH, I’d like to admit my love of reading young-adult novels and seeing what today’s kids are reading. When I discovered Markus Zusak, author of this month’s Book Pick, The Book Thief, my immediate reaction was, this is what today’s adults should be reading.

The novel is about a little girl, Liesel, who lives with a foster family outside Munich during World War II—after her mother is taken away. At her brother’s gravesite she finds a book that ignites her passion for reading. The only way Liesel can get books is to steal them. She then shares these stolen treasures with nearly everyone, including Max, the Jewish man who is hiding in the basement.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the image of Max painting over the pages of Mein Kampf to write down the story of his friendship with Liesel on top of Hitler’s words.

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is available in all Costco warehouses and at costco.com. C

News about scheduled book signings at Costco and a book giveaway can be found in “Book Look,” only in the August Online Edition at costco.com under “Costco magazine.”