Six of the most unexpected narrators in YA lit

Sarah Skilton is the author of Bruised, a martial arts drama for young adults; and High and Dry, a hardboiled teen mystery. At the BN Teen blog she tagged six of the most unusual YA narrators, including:

Narrator: Death

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Narrated by Death (who reminds us gently but firmly at the beginning that we’re all going to die), and set in Germany during the 1930s and ’40s, Zusak’s book depicts the life of young Liesel as she struggles through World War II. The thief of the title, she steals her first book before she can even read, and after the death of her brother and parents, goes to live with a foster family who encourage her literary development. She also befriends the Jewish refugee her new family is protecting from Nazi capture. This award-winning best seller is an unsentimental look at people’s capacity for both kindness and brutality.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Book Thief also appears among Tracy-Ann Oberman's six best books, Kathryn Williams's top eleven Young Adult books for readers of all ages, Nicole Hill's top seven books with Death as a character, Lenore Appelhans's top ten teen books featuring flashbacks, and Kathryn Erskine's top 10 first person narratives.

--Marshal Zeringue