Zusak was born in Sydney, Australia. His mother Lisa is originally from Germany and his father Helmut is Austrian. They immigrated to Australia in the late 1950s.^[2][3] Zusak 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, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education.^{[citation needed]}

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. 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 since been translated into more than 40 languages. The Book Thief was adapted as a film of the same name in 2013. In 2014, Zusak delivered a talk called 'The Failurist' at TEDxSydney at the Sydney Opera House. It focused on his drafting process and journey to success through writing The Book Thief.^[4]

The Messenger (I Am the Messenger in the United States) was published in 2002 and was one of Zusak's first novels. This novel has won awards such as the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards: Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature.^[5]

In March 2016 Zusak talked about his then unfinished novel Bridge of Clay. He stated that the book was 90% finished but that, "I'm a completely different person than the person who wrote The Book Thief. And this is also the scary thing—I'm a different person to the one who started Bridge of Clay eight, nine years ago ... I've got to get it done this year, or else I'll probably finally have to set it aside."^[6]

A TV series based on The Messenger premiered on ABC in 2023.^[7] Zusak said his next book would be a "memoir type thing" and not fiction.^[7]

• The Underdog (1999)
• Fighting Ruben Wolfe (2000), sequel to The Underdog
• When Dogs Cry (2001), a.k.a. Getting the Girl; sequel to Fighting Ruben Wolfe
• The Messenger (2002), US title: I Am the Messenger
• The Book Thief (2005)
• Bridge of Clay (2018), Pan Macmillan Australia

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
  • 2006: Kathleen Mitchell Award 2006 (literature)^[8]
  • 2006: National Jewish Book Award (Children's and Young Adult Literature)^[9]
  • 2007: Michael L. Printz Award runner-up (Honor Book) from the US Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)^[10]
  • 2008: Ena Noel Award – the IBBY Australia Ena Noël Encouragement Award for Children's Literature^[11]
  • 2009: Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
• The Messenger (US title: I Am The Messenger)
  • 2003: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
  • 2003: Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award
  • 2005: Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year-Children
  • 2006: Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
  • 2006: Printz Award Honor Book^[10]
  • 2007: Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
• When Dogs Cry / Getting the Girl
  • 2002: Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers^[12]
• Fighting Ruben Wolfe
  • 2001: Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers^[12]
  • shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature