1. The Book Thief
Thinking Ahead

2. Summary

3. Characters

4. Death Death personified is the narrator of The Book Thief
Death's duty is to carry away the souls of the recently departed
In its line of work, Death tries to focus on colors as a way of distracting itself from the survivors of those who have died.
Liesel's story is one of a handful of survivors' tales that Death remembers; in fact, Death retrieves the actual written autobiography of Liesel's life after the air raid at the end of the novel.
Death is "haunted" by humans and unable to reconcile humanity's capacity for evil with humanity's capacity for good.

5. Liesel Meminger
Introduced by Death as "The Book Thief," Liesel is nine at the beginning of the novel, when her younger brother dies and she is given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small town of Molching.
Liesel is traumatized by her brother's death, but Hans proves to be a calming foster father; with his help, she learns to read and soon finds comfort in the written word.
Over the course of the novel, she befriends Max, the Jew who arrives to hide from the Nazis in the Hubermanns' basement, and falls in love with Rudy Steiner, her best friend.
Ultimately, Liesel learns the power of words to influence humans to act towards both good and evil as she experiences the beauty and the brutality of humanity.

6. Max Vandenburg
A 23-year-old Jew who hides from the Nazis in the Hubermanns' basement.
Max was a fist-fighter growing up
He comes to befriend Liesel as the two share their respective nightmares. Their friendship grows very deep, and Liesel reads to Max every night when he falls comatose.
Max makes two books for Liesel, both of which involve thinly-veiled allegories
Max leaves the house after Hans makes a certain choice.
Liesel spends much time wondering if she’ll seem again, and this mystery drives the novel to its conclusion

7. Hans Hubermann Liesel's foster father
An amateur accordion player and skilled house painter by trade
Hans is a tall, gentle man
Due to a past debt, he hides a Jew
Hans is horrified by the Nazis' persecution of the Jews

8. Rosa Hubermann Hans' wife and Liesel's foster mother
A squat woman who makes some money doing laundry for wealthy neighbors, Rosa has a fiery attitude and frequently employs profanity
Death describes Rosa as a good woman for a crisis

9. The Hubermann’s Blood Kids
Hans Junior
Hans and Rosa's only son. Indoctrinated by Nazi propaganda
He serves in the German Army in Russia and stops returning home for holidays because of his animosity towards his father.
Trudy Hubermann
Hans and Rosa's adult daughter.

10. Rudy Steiner Liesel's best friend One of six Steiner children Runner
Rudy is motivated to take risks throughout the novel by his love for Liesel

11. Ilsa Hermann The mayor's wife
An intelligent woman with her own library, Ilsa has spent decades in mourning
Ilsa takes a liking to Liesel

12. Liesel’s Blood Family Werner Meminger
Liesel's six-year-old brother who dies at the beginning of the book. Liesel is haunted by the memory of Werner and consistently experiences nightmares about his death for months after arriving in Molching. At one point, Liesel thinks to herself that in her mind, Werner will be six years old forever.
Paula Meminger
Liesel's mother, who gives her up for adoption by the Hubermann's at the beginning of the novel. Liesel's father was taken away by the Nazis for being a Communist, and Paula meets the same fate. As Liesel comes to realize, by giving her daughter away, Paula saves her from persecution.

13. The Neighborhood Frau Diller
The very pro-Nazi shopkeeper who refuses service to anyone who does not salute and say "Heil Hitler" upon entering her corner store.
Frau Holtzapfel
A neighbor of the Hubermanns who has feuded with Rosa for a long time, spitting on the Hubermanns' door
Frau Holtzapfel agrees to stop this practice if Liesel will read to her on a regular basis.
She has two sons serving in the German Army in Russia, Michael and Robert.

14. Peers and Friends Arthur Berg
Tommy Muller
A friend and classmate of Liesel's.
Ludwig Schmeikl
A classmate of Liesel's.
Otto Sturm
A classmate of Liesel's
Franz Deutscher
The Hitler Youth leader described as a sadist by Rudy.
Arthur Berg
The fifteen-year-old leader of a small group of thieves.
Viktor Chemmel
After Arthur Berg, the second leader of a group of thieves.

15. The Steiner Family Alex Steiner Kurt Steiner Barbara Steiner
Rudy's father, a tailor who does not hate the Jews, but was somewhat relieved when the Jewish tailors competing with him were driven out of town.
Alex refuses to let Rudy be inducted into an Army training academy and is punished with conscription.
Kurt Steiner
Rudy's older brother.
Barbara Steiner
Rudy's mother.