. . . a beautifully balanced piece of storytelling . . . Unsettling, thought-provoking, life affirming, triumphant and tragic, this is a novel of breathtaking scope, masterfully told. It is an important piece of work, but also a wonderful page-turner

Zusak's playfulness with language leavens the horror and makes the theme more resonant - words can save your life . . . It's a measure of how sucessfully Zusak has humanized these characters that even though we know they are doomed, it's no less devastating when Death finally reaches them

. . . this is a weighty novel worthy of universal acclaim . . . A sense of dread prevades this beautifully written novel . . . As The Book Thief draws to a close, Death says: ". . . There's a multitude of stories . . . that I allow to distract me as I work." The story of the Book Thief, who tried to change the world in her own small way, proves one formidable and inspiring distraction

. . . a moving work which will make many eyes brim

. . . it is certainly extraordinary, resonant and relevant, beautiful and angry

It wasn’t until four years ago that I read The Book Thief, by Australian writer Markus Zusak. Narrated by “death” and set in Nazi Germany, the book follows a group of street-smart German children and how they deal with the atrocities that happen in their small town. It’s a difficult read but the writing is so vivid you’ll remember it for the rest of your life.

His faith in the transformative power of storytelling bestows this gentle but worthwhile novel with its own narrative strength and power

Brilliant and hugely ambitious

Elegant, philosophical and moving. A work to read slowly and savour. Beautiful and important

. . . a fantastic book . . . it packs a huge emotional punch

Absorbing and searing

Deserves a place on the shelf with The Diary of Anne Frank . . . Poised to become a classic

Zusak doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five: with grim, darkly consoling humor

. . . deeply engaging novel . . .

A magical tale

A tonic much needed amid the ominous menace of an era of such calamity

. . . breathtakingly good

The 584 pages of this extraordinary novel are centered on the lives of families and indivduals in a town in Nazi Germany

Raw, deeply moving, immeasurably sad, this book is a must-read

It wouldn't surprise us if this became a great classic in years to come

Death turns out to be a tender narrator in Zusak's 'The Book Thief' [ . . . ] This novel movingly depicts the Himmel Street community, and its orphaned book thief, Liesel Meminger

. . . the much talked about The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak . . . should soon have the UK under its spell

It is already a bestseller in Europe, and should soon have the UK under its spell

A magnificent book that deals with so many issues with great tenderness. It's faultless

This is a memorable piece of work - beautifully written, rich and poetic in language and peopled with wonderful characters

Truly memorable

Zusak's writing is hugely imaginative, genuinely beautiful.

This is a stunning work of life and death on a simple street in Nazi Germany...Very impressed

Liesel steals books; her story steals your heart

This is a beautifully written book. It illustrates again the best of teen fiction in telling a tale from another angle, which gives a great deal of food for thought

Zusak combines his descriptions of the terrible events of 1939 Nazi Germany with such believable characters that it will appeal to adult readers and children alike

Bulawayo, whose prose is warm and clear and unfussy, maintains Darling's singular voice throughout, even as her heroine struggles to find her footing. Her hard, funny first novel is a triumph.

Wonderfully, this is a novel whipped with the complexities of African identities in a post-colonial and globalised world and its most compelling theme is that of contemporary displacement, a theme that will resonate with many readers

This is a young author to watch

This is a very readable tale, thanks to some excellent writing and its central character: a likeable heroine in a difficult world

We Need New Names is a distinct and hyper-contemporary treatment of the old You Can’t Go Home Again mould, and the book has more than enough going for it to easily graduate from the Booker longlist to the final six

deeply felt and fiercely written first novel

Bulawayo's novel may scream Africa, but her deft and often comic prose captures memories and tastes, among them the bitterness of disappointment, that transcend borders

Bulawayo excels... there is an inevitable nod to Achebe and the verbal delights and child's-eye view of the world is redolent of The God of Small Things. Otherwise, the magic is all Bulawayo's own

Proof again that the Caine prize for African writers really knows how to pick a winner… [It’s] a tour de force. Ten-year-old Darling is an unforgettable and necessary new voice: add her to the literary cannon

This brilliant novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

An exceptionally fine novel, as powerful and memorable as Coetzee's magnificent Disgrace... We need new novels like this – authentic, original and cathartic

There is no doubt that a new star of African female writing is truly born. The one-to-watch

Follow ten-year-old Darling from the Paradise shantytown to America in this searing indictment of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Shocking, often heartbreaking – but also pulsing with energy

A poignant, witty, original and lyrical coming of age story

Talented and ambitious

A powerful fictional condemnation of global inequality

From the opening chapter…the first-person narrative achieves a breathtaking vibrancy, ambition and pathos

Deserved all the publicity it got