The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Death introduces himself as the narrator of the novel. The first time he saw the book thief, he
says, was on a
train. The next time he saw her was when he came for a pilot who had crashed his plane. And the third
time was
after a bombing. He associates a color with each sighting: white, red, and black, the colors of the Nazi
flag.
Death then begins the story. Liesel, her mother, and her brother Werner are traveling on a train to
Munich when
Werner suddenly dies. Liesel and her mother get off the train to bury the body, and Liesel steals a book
from
one of the gravediggers. She and her mother continue their journey to a town called Molching, where
Liesel will
be raised by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. At first Liesel doesn’t like her foster parents,
but Hans
wins her over by teaching her to roll cigarettes for him.
Slowly, Liesel adjusts to her new life, though she is plagued by nightmares of her dead brother.
She meets and
befriends a neighborhood boy named Rudy, who worships the American athlete Jesse Owens and constantly
pesters
Liesel to kiss him. When Hans discovers that Liesel doesn’t know how to read, he begins teaching her the
alphabet, and together they make their way through the book Liesel stole from the gravedigger.
Meanwhile, the
political situation in Molching and throughout Germany is becoming serious, with war escalating and food
and
work shortages at home. When the town holds a book-burning to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, Liesel steals
another
book from the flames.
Liesel begins delivering laundry for Rosa. One of Rosa’s customers is the mayor’s wife, Ilsa
Hermann. One day
Liesel is invited into Ilsa Hermann’s study, where she marvels at the walls of books. Frau Hermann
allows her to
read in the study. Meanwhile, in Stuttgart, a German Jew named Max hides in a closet with no food,
light, or
water. A friend brings him false identity papers and a map hidden in MKPF, Hitler’s autobiography. Max
leaves
the closet and takes the train to the Hubermanns’ house. Hans, we learn, served with Max’s father in
World War
I. After Max’s father died, Hans promised Max’s mother he would always help her. When Max arrives in
Molching,
Hans and Rosa hide him in the basement. As he recovers from his ordeal, he and Liesel become friends,
and Max
writes her a book on the painted-over pages of MKPF.
Frau Hermann tells Liesel she can’t afford to send out the laundry anymore. Liesel is furious
because her family
is already struggling to survive and the Hermanns have so much. With Rudy’s help, Liesel begins sneaking
into
the Hermanns’ library and stealing books. For Christmas, Liesel builds Max a snowman in the basement.
When Max
gets sick and falls into a coma, Hans and Rosa worry about how they will dispose of the corpse if he
dies. After
months, Max recovers. Nazi soldiers arrive and inspect the basement to see if it is deep enough for a
bomb
shelter. Luckily, they don’t see Max. Liesel continues stealing books from the Hermanns’ library. Frau
Hermann
leaves her a dictionary and thesaurus with a note saying she knows Liesel has been stealing from her. At
a
Hitler Youth carnival, Rudy wins three races. The Allies begin bombing near Molching, and the people on
Liesel’s
block must take shelter in a neighbor’s basement. With each raid, Liesel reads to them until it’s safe
to exit.
Max, meanwhile, has to stay in the Hubermanns’ basement by himself.
As the war intensifies, Nazi soldiers begin parading Jewish prisoners through town on their way to
the
concentration camp at Dachau. When Hans sees an old man struggling to keep up with the group, he gives
him a
piece of bread. Nazi soldiers intervene and whip both the man and Hans. Hans realizes he has aroused
suspicion
and drawn attention to himself, and Max is no longer safe in the basement. That night, Max leaves Hans
and
Rosa’s house. Hans waits for soldiers to come take him away, but none do. Instead, they come to Rudy’s
house, to
recruit him for a school for future Nazi leaders. Rudy’s father, Alex, refuses to let his son go. The
soldiers
leave, but a few days later both Alex and Hans are drafted into the German army. After Alex and Hans
leave for
duty, Rudy and Liesel go to the next parade of Jews and scatter bread in the streets. Rosa gives Liesel
a book
that Max made for her called “The Word Shaker.” It is the story of Max and Liesel’s friendship, and
promises
they will be reunited some day.
Hans is sent to Essen, where he is part of a squad that cleans up after air raids. Another member
of the squad
takes a dislike to Hans, and one day he insists they change places on their work bus. The bus crashes
and the
other man is killed, while Hans merely breaks his leg. Hans gets sent home to recuperate. Following
another air
raid, Liesel and Rudy find an Allied fighter pilot who has crashed his plane. They arrive just in time
to see
him die. Death sees Liesel for the second time when he comes to collect the pilot’s soul. The Nazis
continue to
parade the Jews through Molching, and Liesel sees Max among the prisoners. Liesel tells Rudy about
hiding Max.
She had never told anyone before.
The mayor’s wife gives Liesel a blank notebook so she can begin writing her own story. One night,
while Liesel
is in the basement editing her book, her neighborhood is bombed. Hans, Rosa, Rudy, and the rest of the
neighbors
are killed. When rescue workers pull Liesel out of the rubble, she finds Rudy’s corpse and gives him the
kiss he
always wanted. When the workers take her away, she leaves behind her finished book, called “The Book
Thief.”
Death, who has been watching, rescues the book. Liesel goes to live with the mayor and his wife. After
the
liberation of the concentration camps, Max returns to Molching and finds Liesel. They hug and cry
together.
Liesel eventually grows up and moves to Australia, where she has a family and lives to an old age. When
Death
finally comes to take her soul, he shows her the book she wrote so many years before.
this text is invissible
