The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Liesel is a young girl living in Germany during World War II. On a train ride to live with another family Liesel's younger brother dies and is buried alongside the tracks in the freezing snow. On the way back, she stumbles upon a book, The Grave Diggers Handbook, lying in the snow and she takes it. This is just the beginning of Liesel's book thieving habit.
Liesel's new home is lonely without her mother and brother, but she soon makes friends. Rudy, a boy with blonde unkempt hair is one of the first to greet Liesel and they soon become friends. Life starts to get pretty enjoyable for Liesel until one by one the Jews disappear and the economy grows worse by the second. There are many secrets that Liesel is keeping, but how would anyone guess that one of them would be that she is hiding a Jew in her basement?
This book is 552 pages long and is for children ages 12 and older. I would rate this book 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. It is a great book that every child should read and is a real eye opener to what life in Germany was like.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Ebenezer Scrooge is a selfish, unkind, and wealthy man that doesn't believe in Christmas. Well, he didn't believe in ghosts either until his dead business partner, Marley, showed up at his house. He came to warn Scrooge that unless he changed his ways and became kind and loving to everyone, he would be cursed to spend his days after death in chains and sorrow. Marley told Scrooge that three ghosts would appear to him; the ghost of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future. Scrooge has one last chance to turn his life around. Will he take it?

This book is 122 pages long and is for children ages 12 and older. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.