Zusak grew up knowing that he wanted to tell stories about Nazi Germany. His mother told him stories when he was little about how Jews were being marched through her small town. He now lives in Sydney, Australia where he eats lunch with many different animals in the park. His favorite books include What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges, The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen, and My Brother Jack by George Johnston.
"I wanted to write something very different than what I've done before. The idea of a book stealer was in my head when I was writing I Am the Messenger, but it wasn't ready to be written. The original idea was set in the present, in Sydney, which didn't feel quite right. Then I thought about writing of the things my parents had seen while growing up in Nazi Germany and Austria, and when I brought the ideas together, it seemed to work, especially when I thought about the importance of words in that time, and what they were able to make people believe and do" (Zusak).
