Page 43 - The Book Thief

Staring at the letters on the cover and touching the print inside, she had no idea

what any of it was saying. The point is, it didnt really matter what that book was
about. It was what it meant that was more important.

THE BOOKS MEANING

The last time she saw her brother.

The last time she saw her mother.

Sometimes she would whisper the word Mama and see her mothers face a
hundred times in a single afternoon. But those were small miseries compared to
the terror of her dreams. At those times, in the enormous mileage of sleep, she
had never felt so completely alone.

As Im sure youve already noticed, there were no other children in the house.

The Hubermanns had two of their own, but they were older and had moved out.
Hans Junior worked in the center of Munich, and Trudy held a job as a
housemaid and child minder. Soon, they would both be in the war. One would be
making bullets. The other would be shooting them.

School, as you might imagine, was a terrific failure.

Although it was state-run, there was a heavy Catholic influence, and Liesel was
Lutheran. Not the most auspicious start. Then they discovered she couldnt read
or write.

Humiliatingly, she was cast down with the younger kids, who were only just
learning the alphabet. Even though she was thin-boned and pale, she felt gigantic
among the midget children, and she often wished she was pale enough to
disappear altogether.

Even at home, there wasnt much room for guidance.

Dont ask him for help, Mama pointed out. That Saukerl. Papa was staring out the