Markus Zusak

Markus Frank Zusak (born 23 June 1975) is an Australian writer. He is best known for The Book Thief and The Messenger (US title, I Am the Messenger), two novels for young adults which have been international best-sellers. He won the annual Margaret Edwards Award in 2014 for his contribution to young-adult literature published in the US.^[1]

Life and career

Zusak was born in Sydney, Australia. His mother Lisa is originally from Germany and his father Helmut is from Austria. They emigrated to Australia in the late 1950s.^[2][3] Markus is the youngest of four children and has two sisters and one brother. He attended Engadine High School and briefly returned there to teach English while writing. He studied English and History at the University of New South Wales, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education.

Zusak is the author of six books. His first three books, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe and When Dogs Cry, released between 1999 and 2001, were all published internationally and garnered a number of awards. The Underdog, his first book, took seven years to publish. The Messenger, published in 2002, won the 2003 CBC Book of the Year Award (Older Readers) and the 2003 NSW Premier's Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize) in Australia and was a runner-up for the Printz Award in America.

The Book Thief was published in 2005 and has been translated into more than 30 languages. Beside winning awards in Australia and overseas, The Book Thief has held the number one position at Amazon.com and on the New York Times best-seller list, as well as in Brazil, Ireland and Taiwan. It has been among the top five best sellers in the UK, Spain, Israel and South Korea, and is still set to be released in many other territories. The Book Thief was adapted as a film of the same name in 2013.

"The Messenger" (or "I Am The Messenger" in the United States) was published in 2002 and is one of Markus Zusak's first novels. This novel, though not as popular as "The Book Thief," has won awards such as the "New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards: Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature."^[4]

Zusak's next novel is Bridge of Clay.

Works

• The Underdog (1999) ISBN 978-3-473-35234-0
• Fighting Ruben Wolfe (2000), sequel to The Underdog ISBN 978-0-439-24187-8
• When Dogs Cry (2001), a.k.a. Getting the Girl; sequel to Fighting Ruben Wolfe ISBN 978-0-330-36309-9
• The Messenger (2002); US title, I Am the Messenger ISBN 978-0-375-83099-0
• The Book Thief (2005) ISBN 978-0-375-83100-3
• Bridge of Clay,

Awards

In 2014, Zusak won the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association (ALA), which annually recognises an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature".^[1]

In 2006, Zusak was also the recipient of the Sydney Morning Herald's Young Australian Novelist of the Year Award.

• The Book Thief

2009 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

2008 Ena Noel Award – the IBBY Australia Ena Noël Encouragement Award for Children's Literature^[5]

2007 Michael L. Printz Award runner-up (Honor Book) from the US Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)^[6]

2006 Kathleen Mitchell Award 2006 (literature)^[7]

• The Messenger (a.k.a. I Am The Messenger)

2007 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis

2006 Printz Award Honor Book^[6]

2006 Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book

2005 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year-Children

2003 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award

2003 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature

• When Dogs Cry/ Getting the Girl

2002 Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers^[8]

• Fighting Ruben Wolfe

2001 Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers^[8]

shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature

References

External links

• Markus Zusak on Twitter
• Markus Zusak at Random House
• Interview at MotherDaughterBookClub.com
• "Why I Write: Markus Zusak", The Guardian, 28 March 2008
• Random House audio