The Book Thief Strikes Again!
Liesel Meminger has finally settled into life in Molching when Christmas rolls around. She wasn't expecting a gift, but she got two books. One was called Faust the Dog and the other was called The Lighthouse.
In school, Liesel was learning how to write letters. She thought it was ridiculous to write letters to a person when you can speak to them personally. So, she decided that she wanted to write to her mother. When she sends them, she never gets a reply. That is when she learns that "they" might have taken her mother, like they did her father.
It is now Hitler's birthday and everyone is celebrating. To celebrate, there will be a parade in the streets where children will march through. Then, there will be a fire that burns all of the old papers and other objects that people wanted to get rid of in Hitler's name. When that fire is being cleaned, that is when the book thief will strike again.
During Hitler's celebration, Liesel starts to understand what a communist is and what it means in this time. Once she understands completely, she starts to hate Hitler, and she says so to Hans. "I hate the Führer. I hate him." That is what Liesel said. Then, Hans smacked her across the face. Liesel was upset because she never expected that from him, but he did what was necessary to get the point across that she should never say that in public.
While some workers were cleaning up the burnt paper and trash, Liesel noticed that some of the books were wet when the fire was ignited, so they didn't get burned. When she thought no one was looking, she ran, grabbed a book, and then went back the way she came. The book was warm, so it burned her when she touched. It was called The Shoulder Shrug. What Liesel didn't know, until it was too late, was that someone, that she recognized, saw everything.
Hans finds out about Liesel's stolen book an promises, on her request, that he wont tell Rosa, on the condition that she will do a favor for him when the time comes. During the whole part 3, Liesel and Hans work through The Shoulder Shrug.
The person who saw Liesel steal the book was Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife. For a while, Liesel avoids that house during her runs with the laundry, but when she finally gets the courage to go back to the house, Frau Hermann invites her into the library. Liesel is amazed at the amount of books.
At this point, the author changes the setting to Stuttgart, where a Jewish man named Max is living in a secret storage room. This man is told that he may have just received an identity card.
Back in Molching, Liesel and Rudy start stealing food because they are poor and always hungry. Although is living a hard life, some people have it worse, like Max. In the book it says, "anything is better than being a Jew."
When Max arrives in Molching. he goes straight to the Hubermann household and gets ready to unlock the door and enter with the key he was given.
