Wow, what an amazing book. I saw this on the best-seller book lists, so I ordered a copy from my library. I was surprised to see that is a Young Adult book and after reading it, I have to wonder if it should be classified that way. Death is the narrator of the book, and also one of the reoccurring themes. Rather heavy for a book for children. Then again, highschoolers read Eli Weisel's Night, so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. 
 My only criticism of this book is the foreshadowing. We are told before hand who dies. Perhaps this is the author's way of breaking the news to us gradually, but I prefer the shock and not dreading turning the page on the off chance that THAT will be the page that ends that character's life. 
 That aside, though, it was a wonderful book and made me realize how awful WWII was for the children, and how difficult and scary it must have been for the adults who didn't adhere to the Nazi dogma, and then to all the adults who were in the midst of bombs and death. I never gave much thought to how the German people might have suffered.