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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blasdel, Janelle. CliffsNotes on The Book Thief. 24 Aug 2021
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Book Summary

The majority of the novel takes place in the fictional town of Molching, Germany, near Munich, between 1939 and 1943. Death narrates the story of Liesel Meminger, beginning when she is nine years old and suffering from the death of her brother and separation from her mother. Liesel goes to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann at 33 Himmel Street in Molching. When Liesel arrives, she can't read and is made fun of in school. She realizes how powerless she is without words, and so Hans, a painter and accordion player, teaches her how to read during midnight lessons in the basement, reading from the book Liesel took from her brother's burial: The Grave Digger's Handbook. During Liesel's early days with the Hubermanns, she has nightmares and Hans sits with her through the night. With his gentle demeanor and his accordion playing, Hans gains Liesel's trust as she grows close to him and comes to associate his presence with safety. She becomes very good friends with Rudy Steiner, the Hubermanns' neighbor. Rudy is constantly trying to get Liesel to kiss him, but she always refuses.

For a while, Himmel Street is a happy place for Liesel. She helps Rosa collect the washing from different wealthy inhabitants of Molching. One house, in particular, catches her attention: 8 Grande Strasse, the home of the mayor and his wife, Ilsa Hermann.

The Nazi Party's presence becomes increasingly apparent in Molching. In addition to the destruction of Jewish shops and yellow stars that have already been painted on door fronts and windows, Liesel and Rudy are required to join the Band of German Girls and Hitler Youth, respectively. To celebrate the Führer's birthday, the people of Molching gather for a bonfire during which they burn enemy propaganda, including books. Liesel sees one book that survives the fire and hides it under her shirt. She's beginning to realize that Hitler is responsible for her brother's death and her mother's absence, and she hates him for it. Ilsa Hermann sees Liesel take the book and decides to share her own love of books with Liesel by inviting her into her library. To Liesel, the library is the most beautiful sight she's ever seen.

Meanwhile, Max Vandenburg, a Jew, is hiding in a storage closet in Stuttgart and receiving help from his friend Walter Kugler. Walter has been in touch with Hans and asks if Hans is willing to keep the promise he made to Max's mother after World War I. It was Erik Vandenburg, Max's father, who saved Hans's life during World War I and taught Hans to play the accordion. Hans promised Frau Vandenburg that if she ever needed something, she could contact him. Hans agrees to hide Max in his basement and sends the key to his house inside the front cover of Mein Kampf, a book written by Hitler. In an ironic twist, it is this book that holds the key to Max's life.

After Max arrives at 33 Himmel Street, Liesel is curious about the man in her basement but also somewhat afraid of him. She begins to realize that they have much in common. They both have nightmares, they both are fist-fighters, and they both have lost their families. They also share the same view of Hans Hubermann, namely that he and his accordion are sources of safety. Liesel does the best she can to bring the outside world to Max, describing the weather to him, bringing him snow, and delivering presents to the foot of his bed when he falls ill. She continues to play with Rudy and go to school, all while keeping Max a secret and listening to his stories about his past at night. Max, too, loves stories and shares these with Liesel.

Max also understands the power of words. For Liesel's birthday, he paints over the pages of Mein Kampf and makes a book for Liesel called The Standover Man. It is the story of his life, how he had to leave his family, about his journey to the Hubermanns, and about Liesel, who has become his friend and watches over him. In addition to his nightmares, Max also starts having daydreams about boxing the Führer, but Hitler always uses his words to incite the crowd and turn the people against Max.

Because most of the people on Himmel Street are struggling for money, Rosa Hubermann loses her washing jobs, including the one for Ilsa Hermann. Meanwhile, Liesel and Rudy join a gang of youths who steal apples and potatoes from farmers. One night, Liesel takes Rudy to the mayor's house and earns her title of book thief when she sneaks in through the window and takes The Whistler from Ilsa Hermann's library.

The summer of 1942 is primarily a happy time for Liesel. She spends it mostly with Hans as he blackens the windows for homes and shops in Molching in preparation for air raids. He tells her stories and plays his accordion, and at one home they even share a glass of champagne with the residents. Rudy continues training for the Hitler Youth carnival where he hopes to win four gold medals like Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics. He wins three, but he gets disqualified from the fourth race, which, he says, he does on purpose.

On another late-night visit to Ilsa Hermann's house, Liesel and Rudy take the Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus, which appears to have been placed by the window as a gift. Liesel finds a letter inside from Frau Hermann, saying that Liesel is welcome to come in the front door, too.

Shortly after these somewhat lighthearted days, the air raids begin. Liesel and her family, along with Rudy and his family, take shelter in the Fiedlers' basement because they've been told their basement is not deep enough to protect them from the bombings. They must leave Max behind. On one occasion in the Fiedlers' basement, Liesel begins to read from The Whistler. Everyone gathers around her and the words calm them as they calm Liesel. Those in the basement stay even after the all-clear signal has been given to hear the end of the chapter. Liesel realizes that books are her accordion.

Parades of Jews come through Molching on their way to Dachau. Liesel sees their suffering, and Hans tries to help one of them. Because of Hans's actions, they must send Max away because Hans is afraid the Gestapo will come to search their house. The Gestapo never comes for him, though; instead, they come for Rudy to offer him a place in a special school. The Steiners refuse. Eventually, both Hans and Alex Steiner are punished for their actions. Hans is sent to serve with the LSE, an air raid unit, in Stuttgart, and Alex goes to Vienna, Austria, to serve at an army hospital. Himmel Street becomes a very forlorn place.

Rosa gives Liesel a book called The Word Shaker, which Max made for her. It contains many of Max's stories, thoughts, and sketches. The fable about the word shaker catches Liesel's attention. In it, Max describes a girl who is able to use words like some of Hitler's most skilled word shakers, but she uses her words to help her friend and remove small bits of hate from a forest dominated by cruelty. Her words are for good, not for evil.

Meanwhile, Hans Hubermann avoids a fatal accident while on an LSE truck. Reinhold Zucker, who holds a grudge against Hans because of a card game loss, takes Hans's usual seat on the truck and dies in the accident. Hans gets a broken leg and is sent home.

In 1943, the Jews continue to march through Molching, and Liesel always looks for Max. One day, she sees him and runs to him, but a Nazi soldier tosses her from the parade. She gets up and enters the parade again, reciting words from The Word Shaker. She is whipped, and Rudy has to hold her down to keep her from going back for more punishment. Afterward, Liesel finally tells Rudy about Max Vandenburg.

Liesel returns to Frau Hermann's library and becomes angry with the words, how they can fill her up, but can also bring so much hate to so many people. She tears the pages from a book and then writes a note to Frau Hermann to apologize and say that she won't come back. Three days later, Ilsa Hermann shows up at Liesel's front door and gives her a black journal so that she can write the words of her own story.

Then, in October 1943, bombs fall on Himmel Street while everyone sleeps. Liesel, though, sits in the basement writing her story in her journal. She survives. When she emerges from the basement, she finds the bodies of those she loves - her Mama and Papa, as well as Rudy, whom she kisses on the lips. She is taken away by air raid officers, and it is at this moment that Death finds and takes her book, The Book Thief. This is how he knows her story.

Ilsa Hermann and the mayor collect Liesel from the police station and take her home with them. Alex Steiner is relieved of duty after he hears about the bombings and finds Liesel. She tells him about Rudy, about kissing him. They spend a lot of time together, going for walks and hiking to Dachau after its liberation. She spends a lot of time with Alex in his shop, and one day, in 1945, Max Vandenburg shows up. They have a reunion mixed with much happiness and great sadness.

Death ends the story by telling us about Liesel Meminger's death, how she lived a long life in Sydney with her husband, three children, and many grandchildren. When Death goes to collect her, he sets her down so they can walk together for a while. He shows her The Book Thief and wants to ask her so many questions about humans. He cannot understand them, how they can contain so much lightness and darkness. He doesn't ask these things, though. All he can tell her is that humans haunt him.

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Get free homework help on Markus Zusak's The Book Thief: book summary, chapter summary and analysis, quotes, and character analysis courtesy of CliffsNotes. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief , set in Germany during World War II, follows young Liesel Meminger as she struggles with the loss of her mother and brother and must go to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann.

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"A few cars drove by, each way. Their drivers were Hitlers and Hubermanns, and Maxes, killers, Dillers, and Steiners.... I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race—that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant. None of those things, however, came out of my mouth. All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you.
A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR
I am haunted by humans." (Page 366)

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"Yes, I have seen a great many things in this world. I attend the greatest disasters and work for the greatest villains. But then there are other moments. There’s a multitude of stories (a mere handful, as I have previously suggested) that I allow to distract me as I work, just as the colors do. I pick them up in the unluckiest, unlikeliest places and I make sure to remember them as I go about my work. The Book Thief is one such story. When I traveled to Sydney and took Liesel away, I was finally able to do something I’d been waiting on for a long time. I put her down and we walked along Anzac Avenue, near the soccer field, and I pulled a dusty black book from my pocket. The old woman was astonished. She took it in her hand and said, 'Is this really it?' I nodded. With great trepidation, she opened The Book Thief and turned the pages. 'I can’t believe...' Even though the text had faded, she was able to read her words. The fingers of her soul touched the story that was written so long ago in her Himmel Street basement." (Page 366)

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On the night of September nineteenth, another air raid sounded. This time it was real and people were even more terrified than the last time. Liesel took her books again, and Hans refused to take his accordion due to superstition. Liesel and her family gathered in the basement of the Fiedlers, leaving Max behind once more. They could hear bombs going off in the distance. The room was filled with the sound of crying children. Liesel began reading aloud from "The Whistler." As everyone gathered around her to listen to her read, the noise in the shelter gradually died away. She recognized that reading was to her what the accordion was to Hans. When the three sirens sounded once again, signifying the end of the raid, everyone remained in the basement until Liesel finished the chapter. They observed smoke in the sky out in the distance as they returned to their homes, but Himmel Street had remained unscathed. Rosa was proud of Liesel for reading to everyone during the air raid and told Max the story. (Pages 257-259)

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"When the war was over and Hitler had delivered himself to my arms, Alex Steiner resumed work in his tailor shop. There was no money in it, but he busied himself there for a few hours each day, and Liesel often accompanied him. They spent many days together, often walking to Dachau after its liberation, only to be denied by the Americans. Finally, in October 1945, a man with swampy eyes, feathers of hair, and a clean-shaven face walked into the shop. He approached the counter.
'Is there someone here by the name of Liesel Meminger?'
'Yes, she’s in the back,' said Alex. He was hopeful, but he wanted to be sure. 'May I ask who is calling on her?' Liesel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor."

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"You save someone. You kill them. How was he supposed to know?" (Page 364)

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Liesel With The Hermanns
"When Himmel Street was cleared, Liesel Meminger had nowhere to go. She was the girl they referred to as “the one with the accordion,” and she was taken to the police, who were in the throes of deciding what to do with her. She sat on a very hard chair. The accordion looked at her through the hole in the case. It took three hours in the police station for the mayor and a fluffy-haired woman to show their faces. “Everyone says there’s a girl,” the lady said, “who survived on Himmel Street.” A policeman pointed. Ilsa Hermann offered to carry the case, but Liesel held it firmly in her hand as they walked down the police station steps. A few blocks down Munich Street, there was a clear line separating the bombed from the fortunate. The mayor drove. Ilsa sat with her in the back. The girl let her hold her hand on top of the accordion case, which sat between them. It would have been easy to say nothing, but Liesel had the opposite reaction to her devastation. She sat in the exquisite spare room of the mayor’s house and spoke and spoke—to herself—well into the night. She ate very little. The only thing she didn’t do at all was wash. For four days, she carried around the remains of Himmel Street on the carpets and floorboards of 8 Grande Strasse. She slept a lot and didn’t dream, and on most occasions she was sorry to wake up. Everything disappeared when she was asleep. On the day of the funerals, she still hadn’t bathed, and Ilsa Hermann asked politely if she’d like to. Previously, she’d only shown her the bath and given her a towel. People who were at the service of Hans and Rosa Hubermann always talked about the girl who stood there wearing a pretty dress and a layer of Himmel Street dirt. There was also a rumor that later in the day, she walked fully clothed into the Amper River and said something very strange. Something about a kiss. Something about a Saumensch. How many times did she have to say goodbye? After that, there were weeks and months, and a lot of war. She remembered her books in the moments of worst sorrow, especially the ones that were made for her and the one that saved her life. One morning, in a renewed state of shock, she even walked back down to Himmel Street to find them, but nothing was left. There was no recovery from what had happened. That would take decades; it would take a long life. There were two ceremonies for the Steiner family. The first was immediately upon their burial. The second was as soon as Alex Steiner made it home, when he was given leave after the bombing." (Page 363)

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"Liesel Meminger lived to a very old age, far away from Molching and the demise of Himmel Street. She died in a suburb of Sydney. The house number was forty-five—the same as the Fiedlers’ shelter—and the sky was the best blue of afternoon. Like her papa, her soul was sitting up. In her final visions, she saw her three children, her grandchildren, her husband, and the long list of lives that merged with hers. Among them, lit like lanterns, were Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her brother, and the boy whose hair remained the color of lemons forever." (Page 362)

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"I can promise you that the world is a factory. The sun stirs it, the humans rule it. And I remain. I carry them away." (Page 362)

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"Later, they remembered the accordion but no one noticed the book. There was much work to be done, and with a collection of other materials, The Book Thief was stepped on several times and eventually picked up without even a glance and thrown aboard a garbage truck. Just before the truck left, I climbed quickly up and took it in my hand... It’s lucky I was there. Then again, who am I kidding? I’m in most places at least once, and in 1943, I was just about everywhere." (Page 360)

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Death notices the LSE shouting near a pile of rubble as he travels to the next city. Liesel emerges clutching onto her book. She cries out for her Papa, and an LSE man holding his accordion case approaches her. She takes it from him, then notices the bodies all around her and tosses the accordion aside. She tells Rudy to wake up, that she loves him, and kisses him on the lips when she finds him. She then seeks out Hans and Rosa and takes a seat between them. She recalls her first visit to their home, as well as their shared memories. She requests that the LSE obtain her Papa's accordion. She tears up as she sets it next to Hans's body until the LSE take her away. Death notices that Liesel's black journal is thrown into a garbage truck. The LSE returns to collect the accordion. Death goes up to the garbage truck and takes Liesel's journal, and he retells Liesel's story from this book. (Pages 357-360)

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"Picture yourself walking down Himmel Street in the dark. Your hair is getting wet and the air pressure is on the verge of drastic change. The first bomb hits Tommy Müller’s apartment block. His face twitches innocently in his sleep and I kneel at his bed. Next, his sister. Kristina’s feet are sticking out from under the blanket. They match the hopscotch footprints on the street. Her little toes. Their mother sleeps a few feet away. Four cigarettes sit disfigured in her ashtray, and the roofless ceiling is hot plate red. Himmel Street is burning."
"At 31 Himmel Street, Frau Holtzapfel appeared to be waiting for me in the kitchen. A broken cup was in front of her and in a last moment of awakeness, her face seemed to ask just what in the hell had taken me so long."
"By contrast, Frau Diller was fast asleep. Her bulletproof glasses were shattered next to the bed. Her shop was obliterated, the counter landing across the road, and her framed photo of Hitler was taken from the wall and thrown to the floor. The man was positively mugged and beaten to a glass-shattering pulp. I stepped on him on my way out."
"The Fiedlers were well organized, all in bed, all covered."
"Pfiffikus was hidden up to his nose."
(Page 355)
"At the Steiners’, I ran my fingers through Barbara’s lovely combed hair, I took the serious look from Kurt’s serious sleeping face, and one by one, I kissed the smaller ones good night. Then Rudy. Oh, crucified Christ, Rudy... He lay in bed with one of his sisters. She must have kicked him or muscled her way into the majority of the bed space because he was on the very edge with his arm around her. The boy slept. His candlelit hair ignited the bed, and I picked both him and Bettina up with their souls still in the blanket. If nothing else, they died fast and they were warm. The boy from the plane, I thought. The one with the teddy bear. Where was Rudy’s comfort? Where was someone to alleviate this robbery of his life? Who was there to soothe him as life’s rug was snatched from under his sleeping feet? No one. There was only me. And I’m not too great at that sort of comforting thing, especially when my hands are cold and the bed is warm. I carried him softly through the broken street, with one salty eye and a heavy, deathly heart. With him, I tried a little harder. I watched the contents of his soul for a moment and saw a black-painted boy calling the name Jesse Owens as he ran through an imaginary tape. I saw him hip-deep in some icy water, chasing a book, and I saw a boy lying in bed, imagining how a kiss would taste from his glorious next-door neighbor. He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry." (Page 355-356)
"Lastly, the Hubermanns. Hans. Papa. He was tall in the bed and I could see the silver through his eyelids. His soul sat up. It met me. Those kinds of souls always do—the best ones. The ones who rise up and say, “I know who you are and I am ready. Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come.” Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places. This one was sent out by the breath of an accordion, the odd taste of champagne in summer, and the art of promise-keeping. He lay in my arms and rested. There was an itchy lung for a last cigarette and an immense, magnetic pull toward the basement, for the girl who was his daughter and was writing a book down there that he hoped to read one day. Liesel. His soul whispered it as I carried him. But there was no Liesel in that house. Not for me, anyway. For me, there was only a Rosa, and yes, I truly think I picked her up midsnore, for her mouth was open and her papery pink lips were still in the act of moving. If she’d seen me, I’m sure she would have called me a Saukerl, though I would not have taken it badly. After reading The Book Thief, I discovered that she called everyone that. Saukerl. Saumensch. Especially the people she loved. Her elastic hair was out. It rubbed against the pillow and her wardrobe body had risen with the beating of her heart. Make no mistake, the woman had a heart. She had a bigger one than people would think. There was a lot in it, stored up, high in miles of hidden shelving. Remember that she was the woman with the instrument strapped to her body in the long, moon-slit night. She was a Jew feeder without a question in the world on a man’s first night in Molching. And she was an arm reacher, deep into a mattress, to deliver a sketchbook to a teenage girl" (Page 356)

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31 Himmel Street (Page 339)

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"Almost all the words are fading now. The black book is disintegrating under the weight of my travels. That’s another reason for telling this story. What did we say earlier? Say something enough times and you never forget it. Also, I can tell you what happened after the book thief’s words had stopped, and how I came to know her story in the first place." (Page 355)

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Ilsa Hermann gifted Liesel a black journal in which she could write her own stories if she would not be reading anymore of her books. Ilsa advised Liesel not to be like her and to not torture herself. Liesel went down to the basement that night and wrote her story, "The Book Thief." (Pages 351-352)

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"And the book thief reads, rereads, and rereads her last sentence, for many hours.
THE BOOK THIEF—LAST LINE
I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." (Page 354)

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Gifted Black Journal
In mid-August 1943, Liesel climbed through Frau Hermann's window to read in the library. She sat on the floor with a book and thought about words and the Führer's use of them, about how words could make her joyful but could also lead to terrible things. Out of anger and frustration, she tore the pages out of the book she was reading and then wrote Frau Hermann a note apologizing and claiming that she would punish herself by not going to the library any more. Ilsa Hermann appeared at Liesel's front door three days later. She gifted Liesel a black journal in which she could write her own stories if she would not be reading anymore of her books. Ilsa advised Liesel not to be like her and to not torture herself. Liesel went down to the basement that night and wrote her story, "The Book Thief." (Pages 349-352)

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Ilsa gifted Liesel a black journal in which she could write her own stories if she would not be reading anymore of her books. Ilsa advised Liesel not to be like her and to not torture herself. Liesel went down to the basement that night and wrote her story, "The Book Thief." (Pages 349-352)

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In mid-August 1943, Liesel climbed through Frau Hermann's window to read in the library. She sat on the floor with a book and thought about words and the Führer's use of them, about how words could make her joyful but could also lead to terrible things. Out of anger and frustration, she tore the pages out of the book she was reading and then wrote Frau Hermann a note apologizing and claiming that she would punish herself by not going to the library any more. Ilsa Hermann appeared at Liesel's front door three days later. She gifted Liesel a black journal in which she could write her own stories if she would not be reading anymore of her books. Ilsa advised Liesel not to be like her and to not torture herself. Liesel went down to the basement that night and wrote her story, "The Book Thief." (Pages 349-352)

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8 Grande Strasse (Page 179)

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Firing The Hubermanns
Liesel delivered the washing to 8 Grande Strasse once more and she read in the library again. For the second time, Frau Hermann insisted that Liesel take "The Whistler home" with her. This time, Liesel accepted. Then, Frau Hermann handed Liesel a letter in which she apologized and told her to apologize to her mother, too. Even though Frau Hermann had not told Liesel what she was apologizing about, she knew that Rosa had been fired from her job. According to Frau Hermann, Liesel was welcome to come by and read anytime. Liesel walked away and sat on the stairs at the front door as she read the mayor's note explaining why the Hermanns were canceling their laundry service. She became increasingly enraged with the mayor and his wife as she made her way back home, especially with the gift of The Whistler because it had been given to her out of pity. She then returned to the mayor's residence and knocked on Frau Hermann's door scolding her and telling her that she didn't want her useless book and that she wouldn't accept her pity gift. She adds angrily that Frau Hermann and her husband should start doing their own laundry while sitting in their mansion. Liesel then brought up Frau Hermann's deceased son, saying that she needed to accept the fact that he was dead and that she was pathetic. She tossed "The Whistler" at Frau Hermann's feet and noticed the pained expression she had on her face because of her words. (Pages 178-181)

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Ilsa Hermann's Library
Liesel and Rudy returned to the mayor's library window. Liesel saw a platter of Christmas cookies that had been sitting out for two weeks and thought it was meant for her and Rudy. She walked inside to retrieve the cookies before looking for a book. She selected "The Last Human Stranger" and wrote a letter of thanks to Ilsa Hermann. As Liesel was about to leave, Ilsa Hermann entered the library room. Liesel then realized that the library belonged not to the mayor, but to her because the cookies had been sitting there for weeks and the mayor would've noticed them and would've asked about them. Frau Hermann confirmed Liesel's thought and told her that she and her son used to read together in the library. (Pages 313-314)

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Deceased Son
Curiosity got the best of Liesel one day when she remembered the name Johann Hermann inside one of the books she had grabbed from the library before. She asked Ilsa Hermann who he was and she told her that he was her son, who perished in a mysterious barbed-wire fence accident in 1918. Ilsa had not gotten over his death and was still grieving her loss. (Page 98-99)

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Letter To Liesel
Rudy came to get Liesel on another day to show her what was in the window of 8 Grande Strasse. There was a book. Liesel and Rudy weren't sure whether it was a set-up, but she stole it nonetheless. When she inspected the book, she noticed it was a dictionary and thesaurus. While pedaling away, she saw Ilsa Hermann at the window who waved to Liesel, as she waved back in shock. When she opened the book, she discovered a note from Ilsa Hermann, in which she apologized for firing Rosa and admitted that she knew Liesel had been taking the books. She said she wouldn't stop Liesel from stealing the books because she would only take one at a time and it would take numerous visits to empty the library. The last thing she added in her letter was that one day she hoped Liesel would stop sneaking in through the window and start coming in through the front door again. (Pages 248-251)

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Showing Liesel The Library
When Liesel stole her second book after a celebratory fire for Hitler's birthday, she noticed that Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife, had seen her steal the book from the remains of the firepit. After that she would avoid going to her house to deliver/pick up the laundry and would make excuses. After a little while she of course had to visit her house. When she did, Isela Hermann did not ask or question Liesel about the fact that she saw her steal a book so Liesel assumed that maybe she had not seen her steal a book and that when she had caught her staring, she must've just been looking at something else or daydreaming but that was not the case. The next time she returned, the mayor's wife invited her into the house and lead her to a room filled with many books that were stacked on shelves. The mayor's wife would let Liesel stay and read in their library whenever she stopped by for laundry. (Pages 88-93)

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"A few times a week, Liesel would come home from school and walk the streets of Molching with her mama, picking up and delivering washing and ironing from the wealthier parts of town. Knaupt Strasse, Heide Strasse. A few others. Mama would deliver the ironing or pick up the washing with a dutiful smile, but as soon as the door was shut and she walked away, she would curse these rich people, with all their money and laziness." (Page 29)

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The Mayor
"ANOTHER QUICK TRANSLATION Bürgermeister = mayor" (Page 88)

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The Mayor's Wife
"And Frau Hermann, the mayor’s wife, standing fluffy-haired and shivery in her enormous, cold-aired doorway. Always silent. Always alone. No words, not once." (Page 63)

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"The girl simply didn’t care anymore. For a long time, she sat and saw. She had seen her brother die with one eye open, one still in a dream. She had said goodbye to her mother and imagined her lonely wait for a train back home to oblivion. A woman of wire had laid herself down, her scream traveling the street, till it fell sideways like a rolling coin starved of momentum. A young man was hung by a rope made of Stalingrad snow. She had watched a bomber pilot die in a metal case. She had seen a Jewish man who had twice given her the most beautiful pages of her life marched to a concentration camp. And at the center of all of it, she saw the Führer shouting his words and passing them around. Those images were the world, and it stewed in her as she sat with the lovely books and their manicured titles. It brewed in her as she eyed the pages full to the brims of their bellies with paragraphs and words. You bastards, she thought. You lovely bastards. Don’t make me happy. Please, don’t fill me up and let me think that something good can come of any of this. Look at my bruises. Look at this graze. Do you see the graze inside me? Do you see it growing before your very eyes, eroding me? I don’t want to hope for anything anymore. I don’t want to pray that Max is alive and safe. Or Alex Steiner. Because the world does not deserve them. She tore a page from the book and ripped it in half. Then a chapter. Soon, there was nothing but scraps of words littered between her legs and all around her. The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better. What good were the words?" (Page 350)

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Liesel's Love For Rudy
"At first, Liesel could not talk. Perhaps it was the sudden bumpiness of love she felt for him. Or had she always loved him? It’s likely. Restricted as she was from speaking, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to drag her hand across and pull her over. It didn’t matter where. Her mouth, her neck, her cheek. Her skin was empty for it, waiting. Years ago, when they’d raced on a muddy field, Rudy was a hastily assembled set of bones, with a jagged, rocky smile. In the trees this afternoon, he was a giver of bread and teddy bears. He was a triple Hitler Youth athletics champion. He was her best friend. And he was a month from his death. 'Of course I told him about you,' Liesel said. She was saying goodbye and she didn’t even know it." (Page 348)

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Confessions
Rudy came every day to check on Liesel, who had been in bed for three days. Liesel and Rudy traveled to the woods on the fourth day, where they once scatter bread for the Jews. She believed that he deserved an explanation. She told him about Max and showed him "The Word Shaker" and the page Max wrote about Rudy in. The page included an illustration of Rudy with lemon-colored hair and medals dangling from his neck. (Page 347-348)

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Once more, the Jews were marched through Molching. As usual, Liesel looked around for Max's twig-like hair and spotted him. He was also looking through the crowd of Germans for her. She joined the crowd of Jews and walked alongside Max clutching his arm. Soon after, a soldier noticed her and shoved her out of the parade telling her to stay away. Liesel ignored him and ran back into the crowd calling Max's name. He came to a stop as she began to recite the words he had written in "The Word Shaker." She wanted him to recall his battles with the Führer. Max and Liesel were then both whipped. Rudy saw this and came to save Liesel from the street. After getting up from the ground she chased after Max once more. Rudy tackled her to the ground pinning her there so she couldn't run back into the crowd of Jews and get hurt again. (Pages 341-346)

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"The Germans were starting to pay in earnest by then. The Führer ’s pimply little knees were starting to shake. Still, I’ll give him something, that Führer. He certainly had an iron will. There was no slackening off in terms of war-making, nor was there any scaling back on the extermination and punishment of a Jewish plague. While most of the camps were spread throughout Europe, there were some still in existence in Germany itself. In those camps, many people were still made to work, and walk. Max Vandenburg was one such Jew." (Page 340)

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Mourning Robert
"Frau Holtzapfel sat with wet streams of wire on her face. Her son was dead. But that was only the half of it. She would never really know how it occurred, but I can tell you without question that one of us here knows. I always seem to know what happened when there was snow and guns and the various confusions of human language. When I imagine Frau Holtzapfel’s kitchen from the book thief’s words, I don’t see the stove or the wooden spoons or the water pump, or anything of the sort. Not to begin with, anyway. What I see is the Russian winter and the snow falling from the ceiling, and the fate of Frau Holtzapfel’s second son." (Page 319)
"As the weeks had worn on, Frau Holtzapfel had not yet begun to recover. When Liesel came to read, the woman spent most of the time staring at the window. Her words were quiet, close to motionless. All brutality and reprimand were wrested from her face. It was usually Michael who said goodbye to Liesel or gave her the coffee and thanked her." (Page 328)

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Burial
"JULY 27, 1943
Michael Holtzapfel was buried and the book thief read to the bereaved. The Allies bombed Hamburg—and on that subject, it’s lucky I’m somewhat miraculous. No one else could carry close to forty-five thousand people in such a short amount of time. Not in a million human years." (Page 340)

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Mourning Michael
"MICHAEL HOLTZAPFEL— THE LAST GOODBYE
Dear Mama, Can you ever forgive me? I just couldn’t stand it any longer. I’m meeting Robert. I don’t care what the damn Catholics say about it. There must be a place in heaven for those who have been where I have been. You might think I don’t love you because of what I’ve done, but I do. Your Michael
It was Hans Hubermann who was asked to give Frau Holtzapfel the news. He stood on her threshold and she must have seen it on his face. Two sons in six months. The morning sky stood blazing behind him as the wiry woman made her way past. She ran sobbing to the gathering farther up on Himmel Street. She said the name Michael at least two dozen times, but Michael had already answered. According to the book thief, Frau Holtzapfel hugged the body for nearly an hour. She then returned to the blinding sun of Himmel Street and sat herself down. She could no longer walk." (Page 339)

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Frau Holtzapfel's Son
"Her first thought was that the man must have been one of her sons, but he did not look like either of the brothers in the framed photos by the door. He seemed far too old, although it was difficult to tell. His face was dotted with whiskers and his eyes looked painful and loud. A bandaged hand fell out of his coat sleeve and cherries of blood were seeping through the wrapping." (Page 317)

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Frau Holtzapfel's Son
"What I see is the Russian winter and the snow falling from the ceiling, and the fate of Frau Holtzapfel’s second son. His name was Robert, and what happened to him was this." (Page 319)

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Stalingrad Incident
"Outside, in the fuzzy gray light, Liesel couldn’t help asking the man what had happened to his hand. He blew some air from his nostrils— a single syllable—before his reply. 'Stalingrad.'

'Sorry?' He had looked into the wind when he spoke. 'I couldn’t hear you.' He answered again, only louder, and now, he answered the question fully. 'Stalingrad happened to my hand. I was shot in the ribs and I had three of my fingers blown off. Does that answer your question?' He placed his uninjured hand in his pocket and shivered with contempt for the German wind." (Page 317)

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Michael Holtzapfel's Suicide
"Suffering had most definitely come, and if they could blame the Jews as a warning or prologue, they should have blamed the Führer and his quest for Russia as the actual cause—for when Himmel Street woke later in July, a returned soldier was discovered to be dead. He was hanging from one of the rafters in a laundry up near Frau Diller’s. Another human pendulum. Another clock, stopped. The careless owner had left the door open.
JULY 24, 6:03 A.M. The laundry was warm, the rafters were firm, and Michael Holtzapfel jumped from the chair as if it were a cliff.
So many people chased after me in that time, calling my name, asking me to take them with me. Then there was the small percentage who called me casually over and whispered with their tightened voices. 'Have me,' they said, and there was no stopping them. They were frightened, no question, but they were not afraid of me. It was a fear of messing up and having to face themselves again, and facing the world, and the likes of you. There was nothing I could do. They had too many ways, they were too resourceful—and when they did it too well, whatever their chosen method, I was in no position to refuse. Michael Holtzapfel knew what he was doing. He killed himself for wanting to live." (Page 338)

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Robert Holtzapfel's Death
Robert Holtzapfel was killed in Stalingrad. Death described Robert's death, including how his legs were blasted off below the shins and how he died three days later in the hospital with Michael by his side. Death recalled Russia and how no matter where he went, he would see snow falling anytime he thought of it. (Pages 317-320)
Frau Holtzapfel sat with wet streams of wire on her face.
Her son was dead. But that was only the half of it. She would never really know how it occurred, but I can tell you without question that one of us here knows. I always seem to know what happened when there was snow and guns and the various confusions of human language. When I imagine Frau Holtzapfel’s kitchen from the book thief’s words, I don’t see the stove or the wooden spoons or the water pump, or anything of the sort. Not to begin with, anyway. What I see is the Russian winter and the snow falling from the ceiling, and the fate of Frau Holtzapfel’s second son. His name was Robert, and what happened to him was this.
A SMALL WAR STORY
His legs were blown off at the shins and he died with his
brother watching in a cold, stench-filled hospital. It was Russia, January 5, 1943, and just another icy day. Out among the city and snow, there were dead Russians and Germans everywhere. Those who remained were firing into the blank pages in front of them. Three languages interwove. The Russian, the bullets, the German." (Page 319)

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Frau Holtzapfel's Offer
Frau Holtzapfel came to the Hubermann's household and requested if Liesel would read the rest of "The Whistler" to her a few times a week. She promised Rosa that she would stop spitting on her door and that she would give her coffee ration to them. Rosa consented without consulting Liesel, and Liesel believed that this was her punishment for stealing. (Pages 260-262)

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Rivalry
"It was a tradition for Frau Holtzapfel, one of their neighbors, to spit on the Hubermanns’ door every time she walked past. The front door was only meters from the gate, and let’s just say that Frau Holtzapfel had the distance—and the accuracy. The spitting was due to the fact that she and Rosa Hubermann were engaged in some kind of decade-long verbal war. No one knew the origin of this hostility. They’d probably forgotten it themselves. Frau Holtzapfel was a wiry woman and quite obviously spiteful. She’d never married but had two sons, a few years older than the Hubermann offspring." (Page 31)

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"It was a tradition for Frau Holtzapfel, one of their neighbors, to spit on the Hubermanns’ door every time she walked past." (Page 31)

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"On this occasion, in July, on what Liesel later calculated as the ninety-eighth day of her papa’s return, she stood and studied the moving pile of mournful Jews—looking for Max. If nothing else, it alleviated the pain of simply watching. That’s a horrible thought, she would write in her Himmel Street basement, but she knew it to be true. The pain of watching them. What about their pain? The pain of stumbling shoes and torment and the closing gates of the camp?" (Page 338)

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"Rudy stopped and watched her now as if she were betraying him. 'That’s right, book thief. Leave me now. I bet if there was a lousy book at the end of this road, you’d keep walking. Wouldn’t you?' For a while, neither of them spoke, but Liesel soon found the will.
'You think you’re the only one, Saukerl?' She turned away. 'And you only lost your father....'
'What does that mean?' Liesel took a moment to count. Her mother. Her brother. Max Vandenburg. Hans Hubermann. All of them gone. And she’d never even had a real father." (Page 288)

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On Himmel Street, everything was fine for the first 97 days after Hans's return in April 1943. On the 98th day, however, the Jews were marched through Molching yet again, this time to the neighboring town of Nebling to do clean up work that the army refused to do themselves. After, they marched back to camp. Liesel searched the group once again keeping an eye out for Max. He wasn't amongst the group. (Page 337)

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"The rescuing hands pulled Liesel out and brushed the crumbs of rubble from her clothes. 'Young girl,' they said, 'the sirens were too late. What were you doing in the basement? How did you know?' What they didn’t notice was that the girl was still holding the book. She screamed her reply. A stunning scream of the living.
'Papa!' A second time. Her face creased as she reached a higher, more panic-stricken pitch. 'Papa, Papa!' They passed her up as she shouted, wailed, and cried. If she was injured, she did not yet know it, for she struggled free and searched and called and wailed some more. She was still clutching the book. She was holding desperately on to the words who had saved her life." (Page 336)

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"The bombs came down, and soon, the clouds would bake and the cold raindrops would turn to ash. Hot snowflakes would shower to the ground. In short, Himmel Street was flattened. Houses were splashed from one side of the street to the other. A framed photo of a very serious-looking Führer was bashed and beaten on the shattered floor. Yet he smiled, in that serious way of his. He knew something we all didn’t know. But I knew something he didn’t know. All while people slept. Rudy Steiner slept. Mama and Papa slept. Frau Holtzapfel, Frau Diller. Tommy Müller. All sleeping. All dying. Only one person survived. She survived because she was sitting in a basement reading through the story of her own life, checking for mistakes. Previously, the room had been declared too shallow, but on that night, October 7, it was enough. The shells of wreckage cantered down, and hours later, when the strange, unkempt silence settled itself in Molching, the local LSE could hear something. An echo. Down there, somewhere, a girl was hammering a paint can with a pencil." (Page 335)

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The Pilot
As the clearing signal was given, everyone exited the basements and noticed fire and smoke down by the Amper River. Liesel and Rudy ran into the woods in search of a plane. Death was present, and the pilot inside the plan was still alive but barely. Death saw Liesel and remembered her from the day her brother died on the train and noticed that she had grown significantly in the past four years. He sensed that she was aware of his presence, that she saw him in the pilot and didn't avert her gaze. Rudy placed the teddy bear from his tool box on the pilot's shoulder and he thanked him in english to which Rudy didn't understand. As the pilot finally died, Death took his soul as he observed what appeared to be a black swastika in the sky. (Pages 330-332)

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"Despite Rudy’s advice, Liesel came even closer, and I can promise you that we recognized each other at that exact moment. I know you, I thought. There was a train and a coughing boy. There was snow and a distraught girl. You’ve grown, I thought, but I recognize you. She did not back away or try to fight me, but I know that something told the girl I was there. Could she smell my breath? Could she hear my cursed circular heartbeat, revolving like the crime it is in my deathly chest? I don’t know, but she knew me and she looked me in my face and she did not look away." (Page 331)

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"It’s probably fair to say that in all the years of Hitler’s reign, no person was able to serve the Führer as loyally as me. A human doesn’t have a heart like mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both. Still, they have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die." (Page 332)

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Reasoning With Frau Holtzapfel
A few weeks later, another air raid occurred. Frau Holtzapfel was still mourning her deceased son, Robert, and refused to leave her kitchen table this time. Michael sought assistance from Rosa and Liesel. Liesel went inside to converse and reason with her, but she wouldn't respond. Not being able to convince her to leave, they were forced to leave her as they headed to the air raid shelter.  Frau Holtzapfel eventually joined them later and Michael apologized to her because he was disappointed in himself for abandoning his mother. (Pages 328-330)

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Teddy Bear
Rudy packed a toolbox and walked to Molching to steal from the rich Nazis who "stole" their fathers. A teddy bear was an unusual item that he had put in the toolbox, which he intended to offer to a kid if he or she entered the room while he was stealing. Liesel noticed him from her window and went out to follow him. After fifteen minutes Rudy's determination began to fade. When he finally arrived at Gelb Strasse, the place he planned to rob, he placed the toolbox in the center of the street and sat on it with Liesel realizing that he was "better at leaving things behind than stealing them." (Pages 326-328)

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Liesel and Rosa received a letter informing them of Hans' broken leg and announcing that he would be returning home shortly. They celebrated his broken limb and informed the Steiners, who joined them in their joy. Even though Rudy was happy for Liesel, she knew that deep down he was asking why it had been Hans who got to return and not his father. (Page 325)

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Liesel decided to wash Frau Hermann's cookie plate and return it to her. She placed it near the front door, knocked, and then hid around the corner. She imagined her younger brother standing beside her, reassuring her that she was doing much better now. Then she realised that her younger brother would remain at the age of six forever. But he was no longer a recurring figure in her dreams. Instead, she saw the ghosts of her brother, mother, Max, and Hans in her room before going to bed, and she'd listen to the sound of Rosa snore. In the mornings, Liesel heard Rosa praying for Hans and for "all of them" to come back alive. (Pages 321-322)

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In January 1943, Liesel went to see Frau Holtzapfel to read to her. As she knocked on her door, a man with a bandaged and bleeding hand opened it. He ordered Liesel to go and told her that he'd come back for her at a later time. After three hours, the man knocked on her door to retrieve her to read for Frau Holtzapfel. When Liesel questioned what happened to his hand, he said that Stalingrad had happened. Rosa soon approached the front door as well and recognized the man as one of Frau Holtzapfel's son, Michael. He informed them that his brother, Robert, was killed in Stalingrad and that the Hubermanns' son as far as he knew, was still alive in Russia. Death described Robert's death, including how his legs were blasted off below the shins and how he died three days later in the hospital with Michael by his side. Death recalled Russia and how no matter where he went, he would see snow falling anytime he thought of it. (Pages 317-320)

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Avoiding Death For The Second Time
Hans and the LSE men would often gamble for cigarettes. Reinhold Zucker was bitter because Hans had won his third game in a row. When Hans would win, unlike Reinhold, he wouldn't brag about it and instead would offer to share the cigarettes he won. Reinhold, on the other hand, would refuse the offered cigarette and developed a hatred that lead him to take Hans' seat and die a few weeks later, saving Hans  indirectly. (Page 316)
Hans was forced to give up his seat on the LSE truck by Reinhold Zucker. Because Hans wasn't in the mood to be petty and because his seat at the back was the coldest anyways, he got up and let him have the seat. The truck's left front tire ended up blowing out while they were travelling. The driver lost control, and the truck rolled and flipped. Most of the men had suffered from minor injuries, but Zucker had broken his neck and died. Hans believed he was the one who should have died because it was his original seat Zucker had been sitting in after all. Hans later learned that his leg had been broken during the accident. His sergeant told him that he was lucky he liked him and that because he had been gracious with the cigarettes, he'd talk to someone about how he was no longer fit for the job and that he should be sent back to Munich to work in the office. (Pages 323-324)

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"It kills me sometimes, how people die." (Page 316)

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Christmas Cookies
Liesel and Rudy returned to the mayor's library window. Liesel saw a platter of Christmas cookies that had been sitting out for two weeks and thought it was meant for her and Rudy. She walked inside to retrieve the cookies before looking for a book. She selected "The Last Human Stranger" and wrote a letter of thanks to Ilsa Hermann. As Liesel was about to leave, Ilsa Hermann entered the library room. Liesel then realized that the library belonged not to the mayor, but to her because the cookies had been sitting there for weeks and the mayor would've noticed them and would've asked about them. Frau Hermann confirmed Liesel's thought and told her that she and her son used to read together in the library. (Pages 313-314)

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"Of course, I’m being rude. I’m spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance, because I don’t have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It’s the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me." (Page 168)

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The Last Human Stranger
"To her right, a book protruded like a bone. Its paleness was almost scarred by the dark lettering of the title. Die Letzte Menschliche Fremde—The Last Human Stranger. It whispered softly as she removed it from the shelf. Some dust showered down." (Page 313)

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Rudy's Christmas Gift
Since both fathers were away, Liesel, Rosa, and Trudy spent Christmas Eve with the Steiners. Rudy acquired the key to his father's shop after Liesel told him she has a special surprise for him. They walked in and she picked out a suit for him. Rudy put the suit on and Liesel said that it was not bad for which he claimed it was better than just not bad. They both kept on bumping into things and tripping over objects because it was dark inside since the electricity had been cut off. Rudy fell and Liesel crouched above him. She contemplated kissing him but decided against it. He expressed his longing for his father, and Liesel wished him a merry Christmas. (Pages 309-311)

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"The Word Shaker"
Rosa tore off a slit sewn into her mattress and pulled out a book. The book had been from Max titled "The Word Shaker." Rosa had been told to give it to Liesel when she was ready and had thought about giving it to her on her birthday but brought the date back to Christmas instead. Rosa expressed that she thought Liesel had always been ready for this book the moment she arrived to their house clinging onto the gate. Captions and narratives about Rudy with his medals, the snowman, the thirteen presents, nights of reading by the fire, and even Max's family, were included in the book. There was also a fable about the Führer who planted words like seeds over the country, creating forests of his ideas and brainwashing people all throughout Germany. There were also people who were called word shakers who climbed trees and sent messages down to the people below. The best word shakers were sent out to manage the woodlands because they understood the power of words. However, there was this skinny girl who was a word shaker and able to climb higher than the rest because she knew how powerless a person could be without words and because she was hungry for words. She encountered and became friends with a man who was condemned by her country. When he became sick, she mourned for him and planted a tree seed formed by one of her tears. It soon grew to be the tallest tree in the forest. The Führer was enraged by this. He wanted to cut down the tree, but the girl begged him to leave it alone. She climbed and positioned herself in the tree as it go hit by an ax. But neither the Führer nor any of his soldiers were able to cut down the tree. The girl remained in the tree over the seasons, and when the last ax man gave up, he called up to her and told her she could come down. She understood, however, that she was the one keeping the tree upright and hence could not come down. Then another ax man came looking for the tree. He hammered nails into the tree trunk and climbed the tree to reach the girl. It was her friend who she had cried over.  They both climbed down and the tree collapsed as a result dragging down some of the forest with it in the process. On the horizontal trunk, the girl and her friend walk out. Liesel thought of Max when she finished the story and wondered about his whereabouts. She had a dream about the tree that night. (Pages 299-308)

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A few days before Christmas, another air raid hit Molching, and Liesel remembered Hans's instructions to her in the shelter. Everyone was eagerly waiting for her to read to them. After the air raid was over and they returned home, Rosa tore off a slit sewn into her mattress and pulled out a book. The book had been from Max titled "The Word Shaker." Rosa had been told to give it to Liesel when she was ready and had thought about giving it to her on her birthday but brought the date back to Christmas instead. Rosa expressed that she thought Liesel had always been ready for this book the moment she arrived to their house clinging onto the gate. (Pages 299-308)

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Bread For Jews
Two more Jewish parades passed through Molching, and Liesel searched for Max both times, hoping he wasn't one of them. Liesel and Rudy rode ahead of the parade into a pine forest on one of those occasions. They threw stale pieces of bread along the roadway for the Jews like Hans had done though they had planned to do it more discreetly. They hid and watched as the Jews instantly spotted the bread and consumed it with insatiable hunger. It took the soldiers some time to comprehend what was going on. They told their captives to stop and one of the soldiers noticed Liesel. He rushed after her as her and Rudy ran in different directions. The officer managed to catch up to Liesel and she was booted in the back and yelled at, but she managed to flee and reunite with Rudy. (Pages 296-298)

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Austria
"Neither Hans Hubermann nor Alex Steiner was sent to fight. Alex was sent to Austria, to an army hospital outside Vienna. Given his expertise in tailoring, he was given a job that at least resembled his profession. Cartloads of uniforms and socks and shirts would come in every week and he would mend what needed mending, even if they could only be used as underclothes for the suffering soldiers in Russia." (Page 291)

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The LSE
"Neither Hans Hubermann nor Alex Steiner was sent to fight." (Page 291)
"Hans was sent first, quite ironically, to Stuttgart, and later, to Essen. He was given one of the most undesirable positions on the home front. The LSE." (Page 291)
"The job of the LSE was to remain aboveground during air raids and put out fires, prop up the walls of buildings, and rescue anyone who had been trapped during the raid. As Hans soon discovered, there was also an alternative definition for the acronym. The men in the unit would explain to him on his first day that it really stood for Leichensammler Einheit—Dead Body Collectors." (Page 291)
The saddest aspect of his job was dealing with the survivors, who cried out names and wept over lifeless bodies as they emerged from the wreckage. There were many bodies, and one person even died in Hans' arms. An eleven or twelve year old boy was another body found and Hans and the other air raid officers stumbled upon a mother looking for her twelve year old son. The woman shouted the name Rudy which then reminded Hans of Rudy and the others on Himmel Street. When he could, he would write  He wrote short letters to his family to let them know he was okay. (Pages 292-295)

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"She walked through the corridor darkness in the direction of silence that had once been noisy, toward the thread of moonlight standing in the living room. She stopped, feeling the bareness of her ankles and toes. She watched. It took longer than she expected for her eyes to adjust, and when they did, there was no denying the fact that Rosa Hubermann was sitting on the edge of the bed with her husband’s accordion tied to her chest. Her fingers hovered above the keys. She did not move. She didn’t even appear to be breathing. The sight of it propelled itself to the girl in the hallway." (Page 290)
"Many minutes dripped past. The book thief’s desire to hear a note was exhausting, and still, it would not come. The keys were not struck. The bellows didn’t breathe. There was only the moonlight, like a long strand of hair in the curtain, and there was Rosa. The accordion remained strapped to her chest. When she bowed her head, it sank to her lap. Liesel watched. She knew that for the next few days, Mama would be walking around with the imprint of an accordion on her body. There was also an acknowledgment that there was great beauty in what she was currently witnessing, and she chose not to disturb it. She returned to bed and fell asleep to the vision of Mama and the silent music. Later, when she woke up from her usual dream and crept again to the hallway, Rosa was still there, as was the accordion. Like an anchor, it pulled her forward. Her body was sinking. She appeared dead. She can’t possibly be breathing in that position, Liesel thought, but when she made her way closer, she could hear it. Mama was snoring again. Who needs bellows, she thought, when you’ve got a pair of lungs like that?" (Page 290)

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Losses
"Rudy stopped and watched her now as if she were betraying him. 'That’s right, book thief. Leave me now. I bet if there was a lousy book at the end of this road, you’d keep walking. Wouldn’t you?' For a while, neither of them spoke, but Liesel soon found the will.
'You think you’re the only one, Saukerl?' She turned away. 'And you only lost your father....'
'What does that mean?' Liesel took a moment to count. Her mother. Her brother. Max Vandenburg. Hans Hubermann. All of them gone. And she’d never even had a real father." (Page 288)

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Killing The Führer
Himmel Street wasn't the same as it had used to be. Everyone had a heavy heart. After a few weeks, Rudy came over to Liesel's house and asked if she would accompany him. She had no idea where they were headed, but she followed him. She finally asked where they were headed to after some time and Rudy claimed that he was planning to assassinate the Führer. Liesel pointed out that it would become dark soon. Rudy didn't care and was upset when Liesel began to head back home. For fifteen minutes she walked home alone until Rudy came running back to her side. The two of them continued their walk home together and even stopped to reminisce some of their old memories when they spotted the Hubert Oval along the way. When they arrived home, Rosa and Barbara Steiner had been there waiting for them, worried and furious. (Pages 288-289)

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"For the next few weeks, while Hans Hubermann and Alex Steiner were at their various fast-tracked training camps, Himmel Street was swollen. Rudy was not the same—he didn’t talk. Mama was not the same—she didn’t berate. Liesel, too, was feeling the effects. There was no desire to steal a book, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that it would cheer her up." (Page 287)

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"THE KITCHEN: 1 P.M.
Two hours till goodbye: 'Don’t go, Papa. Please.' Her spoon-holding hand is shaking. 'First we lost Max. I can’t lose you now, too.' In response, the hungover man digs his elbow into the table and covers his right eye.
'You’re half a woman now, Liesel.' He wants to break down but wards it off. He rides through it. 'Look after Mama, will you?' The girl can make only half a nod to agree.
'Yes, Papa.'" (Page 286)

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Hans Hubermann and Alex Steiner had headed to the Knoller the night before the would depart for training. The owner let them drink for free and they both got drunk. Hans returned home wasted and unable to get his key into the door lock. He called out to Rosa only to find out he was at Frau Holtzapfel's house. He continued off until he made it back to his place. He entered to Liesel's room after he got inside and observed as her slept. For a brief moment, she believed it was Max but then she realized it was Hans. Rosa found Hans sleeping on drop sheets in the basement the next morning and poured a bucket of iced water on his head. The Steiners came over that afternoon to say their goodbyes to Hans. Alex would also be leaving in four days. Liesel and Rosa accompanied Hans to the railway station as they said their farewells. He instructed Liesel to look after his accordion while he was away and to keep reading during the air raids. (Pages 284-287)

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Punishment By Conscience
"You do not help Jews on the street. Your basement should not be hiding one. At first, his punishment was conscience. His oblivious unearthing of Max Vandenburg plagued him. Liesel could see it sitting next to his plate as he ignored his dinner, or standing with him at the bridge over the Amper. He no longer played the accordion. His silver-eyed optimism was wounded and motionless. That was bad enough, but it was only the beginning." (Page 281)

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In the month of November 1942. Hans received paperwork stating that he has been admitted into the Nazi Party, the NSDAP. Hans is drafted into the German army a few days later. The letter indicated that he should be happy to contribute to the war effort as a member of the party, and that if he failed to do so, he would face penalties. Alex Steiner was drafted as well because these were the consequences of their actions. For Hans Hubermann, it had been helping out a Jew. For Alex Steiner, it had been the refusal of letting Rudy go with the Gestapo. Liesel read through Han's letter and noticed how the words were punched into the paper with such force. (Pages 416-419)

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Examination
Rudy told Liesel about the school examination and how the Gestapo showed up at his house after he kept it from her for a little while. She wondered about Max hoping he was still alive. Among this were thoughts of Rudy standing naked as he glowed in the dark. (Page 279-280)

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Rudy's school had been visited by a doctor and a nurse. In a small office, they had evaluated him and two other boys. They told them to strip and stand naked in the freezing room. The boys were then examined and when they left, they overheard the doctor and nurse state that they would take two of them, the first and third. Rudy hoped he wasn't one of them, but when the coated guys came knocking at his house, he knew that he was. (Pages 278-279)

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The Gestapo stopped by at the Steiners' place seeking Rudy. While the men conversed with Alex and Barbara, Rudy and his siblings played dominoes on the other side of the kitchen door. The men were referred to as the "two monsters" by Rudy's younger sisters. They asked if they could knock down the standing dominoes and he said that they would all knock them down together. Rudy's sisters wanted him to light a candle for them, like their father had done many times before, so they could watch the dominoes fall by the candlelight. Rudy approached the door and listened intently. Rudy's outstanding grades in class and athletic abilities were discussed by the two men. Rudy was irritated with himself for showcasing his skill at the carnival. The men striked an offer with Rudy's parents and guaranteed that Rudy would be granted certain privileges but Alex and Barbara objected their offer. Alex had heard reports about how terrible the school where Rudy would be sent was and the men denied the accusations saying that those were all just rumors. Rudy then shut the door behind him and returned to his sisters. Each of them knocked down a domino and watched it hit the one in front of them as they all collapsed. Kurt entered the room and said the dominoes looked like dead bodies. Rudy and his siblings entered the kitchen after the Gestapo men left wanting to know if Rudy would be taken away. Rudy would end up staying, but Death revealed that if he had gone, Alex Steiner wouldn't have had to suffer the same punishment as Hans Hubermann, and maybe Rudy would have still been alive. (Pages 275-277)

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Hans sat at the kitchen table the entire night after Max had left, grieving over his stupidity and waiting for the Gestapo to arrive. Liesel prayed and hoped that Max would survive out there all alone. She saw her Papa sleeping in the kitchen with his head on the table the next morning. When she awoke him, he asked if the Gestapo had arrived for him. When he discovered they hadn't shown, he indicated that they should have done so by now. He was puzzled about their whereabouts and hoped that he hadn't sent Max away for no reason. After four days, Hans went to the Amper River bridge and discovered a note from Max hidden under a rock. Max had written that Hans had already done enough for him. Then, three weeks later, on her way home, Liesel noticed coated guys on their street. She hurried inside the house and alerted her father that the Gestapo were here. Hans then went outside to meet the men, and as they passed by, he shouted that he was the one they were looking for. They simply stated that he was too old for their purposes and moved to the Steiners' residence. Turns out they were after Rudy. (Pages 270-273)

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After the incident where Hans assisted a Jew, Max fled 33 Himmel Street. He said his goodbyes and informed Liesel that he would be leaving something behind for her when she was ready. The house became pretty silent after that. Max was supposed to go to a bridge beside the Amper River and wait for Hans for four days. Instead, when Hans arrived for Max, he discovered a message from him hidden under a rock. The letter told Hans that he had already done enough for him. When Liesel looked up the definition of silence in her dictionary, she realized the silence in their home was not one of peace or calm, as the dictionary suggested. (Pages 268-269)

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On their journey to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp, a parade of Jews marched through Molching. The malnourished and sick Jews walked down the street while Liesel stood with Hans and Rudy. Liesel desperately wanted to tell them she was assisting one of them and that he was living in her basement, but she couldn't. Instead, she sought to express to them how heartbroken she felt about what they were going through. Hans approached one of the fallen Jews and handed the old man some bread. When a Nazi soldier saw the Jew and Hans, he whipped them. The Jew proceeded on, leaving the bread behind. Rudy and Liesel helped Hans in getting up from the ground. Some branded him a Jew lover and toppled his paint cart, while others assisted him to safety. Hans remembered Max in the basement and realized the severity of his actions, realizing that the Gestapo would soon be knocking on his door. (Pages 263-267)

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Frau Holtzapfel came to the Hubermann's household and requested if Liesel would read the rest of "The Whistler" to her a few times a week. She promised Rosa that she would stop spitting on her door and that she would give her coffee ration to them. Rosa consented without consulting Liesel, and Liesel believed that this was her punishment for stealing. (Pages 260-262)

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On the night of September nineteenth, another air raid sounded. This time it was real and people were even more terrified than the last time. Liesel took her books again, and Hans refused to take his accordion due to superstition. Liesel and her family gathered in the basement of the Fiedlers, leaving Max behind once more. They could hear bombs going off in the distance. The room was filled with the sound of crying children. Liesel began reading aloud from "The Whistler." As everyone gathered around her to listen to her read, the noise in the shelter gradually died away. She recognized that reading was to her what the accordion was to Hans. When the three sirens sounded once again, signifying the end of the raid, everyone remained in the basement until Liesel finished the chapter. They observed smoke in the sky out in the distance as they returned to their homes, but Himmel Street had remained unscathed. Rosa was proud of Liesel for reading to everyone during the air raid and told Max the story. When Liesel asked if he had gone up to see the stars again that night, he told her that he had not. Instead, he said that he stared at the painting of the sun and ropey clouds that he had painted almost a year ago from Liesel's description, which made her sad because she knew that Max would die alone if the bombs made it to their neighborhood. (Pages 257-259)

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"They originally thought the words had come from behind the drop sheets and paint cans, but Liesel was first to see him, in front of them. His jaded face was camouflaged among the painting materials and fabric. He was sitting there with stunned eyes and lips. When they walked across, he spoke again. 'I couldn’t help it,' he said. It was Rosa who replied. She crouched down to face him.
'What are you talking about, Max?'
'I...' He struggled to answer. 'When everything was quiet, I went up to the corridor and the curtain in the living room was open just a crack....I could see outside. I watched, only for a few seconds.' He had not seen the outside world for twenty-two months. There was no anger or reproach. It was Papa who spoke.
'How did it look?' Max lifted his head, with great sorrow and great astonishment.
'There were stars,' he said. 'They burned my eyes.'" (Pages 255-256)