The Book Thief 2013

The film tells the story of Liesel (Sophie Nélisse), who is sent to live with foster parents, the kind-hearted Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush) and his prickly wife Rosa (Emily Watson). Reeling from the tragic death of her younger brother only days before and timid around the new "parents" she's just met, Liesel struggles to fit in - at home and at school, where her classmates taunt her as "dummkopf" due to her inability to read.

With the single-minded obsession of a budding scholar, Liesel is determined to change that. And she gets help. Her empathetic "Papa," Hans works day and night with Liesel as she pores over her first tome, The Gravedigger's Handbook, which she walked off with following her brother's funeral - an impulsive act of thievery that will have profound consequences for the young heroine.

Liesel's love for reading and her growing appreciation for her new family are heightened when she befriends a new guest in the Hubermann's home - a Jewish refugee named Max (Ben Schnetzer), who shares her passion for books and encourages Liesel to expand her powers of observation, even as he hides from the Nazis in a dark and dank basement. Equally transformative is her burgeoning friendship with a young neighbor, Rudy (Nico Liersch), who teases Liesel about her book thievery even as he finds himself falling in love with her.

These friendships, along with her exponentially growing love of books provide both an escape and a pathway to shaping Liesel's destiny. She comes to appreciate not only the power of words, but a power beyond words.