The Book Thief Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Book Thief is narrated by Death and follows Liesel Meminger, a girl sent to live with foster parents in a small German town during the Second World War. She learns to read, steals books, befriends a young man hidden in her family's basement and finds comfort in words as the war closes in.
Death tells the reader early on who will not survive, so the story is about how rather than whether.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Liesel Meminger | The book thief |
| Death | The narrator |
| Hans Hubermann | Liesel's gentle foster father, who plays the accordion |
| Rosa Hubermann | Her sharp-tongued, loving foster mother |
| Rudy Steiner | Liesel's best friend and neighbor |
| Max Vandenburg | Young man the Nazis are hunting, hidden by the Hubermanns |
| Ilsa Hermann | Mayor's wife with a library |
How does Liesel come to Himmel Street?
In 1939 Liesel's little brother dies on a train as their mother takes them to foster parents. At his burial Liesel picks up a book dropped by a gravedigger's apprentice, though she cannot read. She arrives at the Hubermanns' house in Molching. Night after night, when she wakes from nightmares, Hans sits with her and teaches her to read.
↑ Back to the topWhat books does she steal?
Liesel and Rudy run, play football and steal apples together. At a Nazi book burning she snatches a smoldering book from the ashes, and the mayor's wife, Ilsa Hermann, sees her. Ilsa later invites her into her library, and Liesel keeps coming back, eventually stealing books through the window.
↑ Back to the topWho is Max?
Max Vandenburg is the son of a man who saved Hans's life in the First World War. Persecuted because of his family's background, he arrives one night, and the Hubermanns hide him in their basement. Liesel and Max become close. He paints over pages of Mein Kampf to write and illustrate stories for her, and she describes the weather to him.
↑ Back to the topWhy does Max have to leave?
When Hans gives a piece of bread to an exhausted prisoner being marched through town, a soldier whips them both. Fearing a search, Max leaves. Hans is sent to work in an air raid unit and Rudy's father is drafted. Liesel later sees Max among prisoners marched through town and walks beside him until soldiers drag her away.
↑ Back to the topHow does The Book Thief end?
Ilsa gives Liesel a blank book, and she writes her own story in the basement. That night, bombs fall on Himmel Street by mistake. Liesel, writing below ground, is the only one on the street to survive. Hans, Rosa and Rudy are killed. Liesel kisses Rudy, as he always wanted. Ilsa takes her in.
After the war Max, who survived the camp, finds her. Death says Liesel lived to an old age in Sydney with a family of her own. When he finally came for her, he brought back the book she wrote, which he had kept all those years.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Book Thief
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.