The Book Thief: A Brief Summary

The Book Thief” is a historical fiction novel. It was written by Markus Zusak. It was a New York Times #1 Bestseller. It has also won several awards. Liesel Meminger is the main character. The book focuses on her journey and remarkable events that happen throughout her lifetime. The narrator in this book is death. It is a little confusing, but it is a very interesting view-point given by the author. At the beginning of the story, Liesel is only a little nine year-old girl. Her mother is a communist and is on the run from Nazis. Her mother is trying to find Liesel and Liesel’s brother a new home. On the way to Liesel and her brother’s new home, her brother dies of whooping cough. Liesel witnesses her brother’s death on the train on the way to her foster parent’s house. After her brother’s death, Liesel is very confused with life. She becomes very angry with her new foster parents, Hans and Rosa. Once she arrives at Hans and Rosa’s house, she starts to become exposed to the terrible things that the Nazis do. She tries her best to remain normal, but it is hard for her. She makes friends with a young boy at her new school, but it is a love-hate relationship with him. He is constantly asking Liesel for a kiss. Liesel, obviously, is not interested in kissing this young man named Rudy. Liesel witnesses Kristallnacht. It was a terrorization of

Hans was surprised, but not angry. He realized that Liesel had a genuine interest in reading. She was very curious. So, Hans started to teach Liesel how to read. He set up chalkboards in his basement and scattered throughout all the chalkboards were each of the letters in the alphabet. Hans made Liesel write every new word she learned on the chalkboard under its letter. As Liesel started to learn to read better, the chalkboard became more and more filled up. Until, eventually the entire chalkboard was filled with new words that Liesel had