Page 94 - The Book Thief

and they were walking onto Himmel Street, past the shop. Youve heard about

Frau Diller, havent you? They say shes got candy hidden somewhere, and for the
right price . . .

Dont even think about it. Liesel, as always, was gripping the money hard. Its not
so bad for youyou dont have to face my mama.

Rudy shrugged. It was worth a try.

In the middle of January, schoolwork turned its attention to letter writing. After
learning the basics, each student was to write two letters, one to a friend and one
to somebody in another class.

Liesels letter from Rudy went like this:

Dear Saumensch,
Are you still as useless at soccer as you were the last time we
played? I hope so. That means I can run past you again just like

Jesse Owens at the Olympics. . . .

When Sister Maria found it, she asked him a question, very amiably.

SISTER MARIAS OFFER
Do you feel like visiting the corridor, Mr. Steiner?

Needless to say, Rudy answered in the negative, and the paper was torn up and
he started again. The second attempt was written to someone named Liesel and
inquired as to what her hobbies might be.

At home, while completing a letter for homework, Liesel decided that writing to
Rudy or some other Saukerl was actually ridiculous. It meant nothing. As she
wrote in the basement, she spoke over to Papa, who was repainting the wall
again.