I listened to this on audiobook when I was a fairly young child. I hated it. However, as I got older it looked a lot more appealing, so I finally read it. Oh man. I have never really felt the whole "books let you into another world" thing until I read this book. It is so beautifully written and such a visual expirience. The characters are real and so unique and so well crafted that after a while you start to forget that they are fictional.
This book follows two children growing up during World War II. Marie-Laure is a blind girl who lives in Paris with her father, a locksmith for the Natural History Museum. Werner Pfennig lives with his sister in an orphanage in Germany. As the books go on, their stories grow closer and closer.
Like I said in my review of I Am The Messenger (you should totally go check that one out!) If you like The Book Thief, this book is a must read. Even if you don't, read it. You won't be let down.