In June, we discussed the books we had read by Markus Zusak.

Markus Zusak was born in Sydney, Australia in 1965 to Austrian and German parents who had immigrated to Australia in the 1950s. He is best known for ‘The Book Thief’ which was made into a film. His books tend to be for the young male adult reader, although they are very readable for adults.

His books and awards are given in these links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Zusak

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1052107/markus-zusak.html

His books which we collectively read were:

The Underdog (1999)
When Dogs Cry (2001)
The Messenger (2002)
The Book Thief (2005)
Bridge of Clay (2018)

We commented on how Markus Zusak’s writing deals with life’s complex issues in a simple but powerful way. For example, in the Bridge of Clay the themes are grief, guilt, and loss; in the Book Thief, the themes are mortality, literacy and love; and in Underdog and When Dogs Cry, the theme is coming of age. His main characters tend to be teenage boys and in the Book Thief, the main female character could be called a tomboy. We found his language overblown at times and very detailed, making the start of some of his books hard to engage with. But we all enjoyed his books and recommend them.