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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Summary

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster Family, on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger’s Handbook, a book she stole from her brother’s burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death and grief. This is Liesel’s life on Himmel Street, told from Death’s point of view.

Booktalk

I am Death, and I am everywhere, I see colors before I see people, and when I see people it is usually for the first and last time.

I met the book thief three times, and she intrigued me to the state that I keep her story to retell to myself. The first time it was white, blindingly so, and I had come to harvest the soul of her brother who had died on the train while her mother was taking the two of them to be raised by someone else.

To Germany, in 1939 When one of the men who buried her brother dropped a book, the girl picked it up and took it with her. It would be the book from which she learned to read, the Grave Digger’s Handbook.

Hitler grew more powerful, Liesel rescued books from the nazi book-burnings and stole from the mayor’s library The second time was black, the darkest moment before the dawn when I arrived early (or he hung on longer than expected and died late) to harvest the soul of the pilot. A boy arrived and took a teddy bear from a box he carried and placed it on the pilot’s chest. The book thief arrived about a half minute later.

Her Foster father taught her to read, hid a Jew in his basement, Liesel learned to play soccer and made friends.

The third and last time I saw the book thief, the sky was red and the sirens came too late for the bombs. Bodies everywhere like driftwood after the flood. I was just about to leave when I saw the book thief there clutching a book, her diary. She dropped the book, knelt and howled. The book, her journal, was thrown aboard a garbage truck at which time I retrieved it for future viewing.

Come with me and I will tell you Liesel’s story.

It's the story of a perpetual survivor --an expert at being left behind.

It's just a small story really, about, among other things:

I saw the book thief three times.

550 pages, 9th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. What is significant about having Death as a narrator?
  2. How is Death haunted by humans?
  3. What is ironic about Liesel’s obsession with stealing books?
  4. How is Liesel’s relationship with Hans different from her relationship with Rosa? Why are they different and does that change during the course of the story?
  5. What role do colors play throughout the story?
  6. How does the author using the technique of foreshadowing? What are some examples?
  7. What are the different kinds of courage that are displayed during the course of the story?
  8. How does Liesel’s attempt to write her own book save her life?
  9. Describe Liesel’s relationship with Rudy and Max, how are they different, how are they the same?

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