I'm one of those short-attention span people that book sellers probably hate. I do read book jackets, but I skim and often don't pay full attention. But I found the following book jacket copy really effective:
HERE IS A SMALL FACT
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.
1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath.
Death has never been busier.
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION
THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH.
it's a small story, about:
a girl
*
an accordionist
*
some fanatical Germans
*
a Jewish fist fighter
*
quite a lot of thievery.
ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW
DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES.
Most of what's on this jacket is in the first few pages of the book. I should note that I wasn't the person induced into buying this book based on its jacket copy - my husband picked it up in an airport bookstore in Europe. But this is not the type of book he typically reads, so this jacket hit a target outside its general readership. Which makes it doubly effective in my opinion.
The book in question is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.
[amtap book:isbn=0375842209]
