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At age 6, Leisel's brother dies on the train, leaving the conductor to stop the train and let Liesel and her mother off so they can bury him. Liesel often has nightmares about him.
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Called "The Grave Digger's Handbook", Liesel stole the book from the grave diggers that buried her brother. She is intrigued by its mysteries, and starts on a quest to steal books and read them.
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Rosa and Hans Hubermann are her new foster parents. They are very poor but love Liesel a lot. Rosa swears A LOT, and everyone on the block knows when she is angry. Liesel immediately takes to Hans as he is very kind and quiet and plays the accordion, opposite personality of Rosa.
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Liesel meets all of the kids on her new block, "Himmel Street", and plays soccer with them; in particular a kid named Rudy Steiner. To him, Liesel is "love at first sight".
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After Nazi Germany lead an unprovoked attack on Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany after Adolf refused to abort the invasion.
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After being taunted by other students (Ludwig Schmeikl in particular) by misreading text in front of the entire class, Liesel snapped and beat up Ludwig Schmeikl as well as 2 other boys. Nobody ever dared talk badly to her face ever again.
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Reading anything but Mein Kampf and the newspaper in Germany at the time was looked down upon. However, when Hans ("Papa") caught Liesel reading "The Grave Digger's Handbook", he was not mad, and instead sought to teach her how to read.
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Liesel receives 2 books from Papa for Christmas, each costing him 8 cigarettes and his only remaining pocket money. This leaves the Hubermanns in great debt but Rosa isn't as mad because of how happy it made Liesel.
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Not knowing what happened to her real mother and why Liesel was put into a foster home, Liesel writes a letter to her mother asking what is going on and why she is in the situation she was in. She mails it using the little washing money that Rosa Hubermann has, and hopes she doesn't get caught.
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On Hitler's Birthday, there was a book burning in Molching. There, Liesel stole a book from the ashes, and the mayor's wife saw her.
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Unbeknownst to Liesel, the mayor's wife saw her steal a book from the burning ashes. When delivering the mayor's household laundry to her, the mayor's wife invites Liesel inside, revealing a huge library of books upon books, which Liesel is invited to read.
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Max, a Jew, and his father saved Hans Hubermann's (Papa's) life. Hans promised the Brandenburgs to eventually repay the favor, so Max starts out to seek refuge at the Hubermann's house.
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After Max knocks on their door, the Hubermanns agree to repay the favor and to let Max live in their home and escape the Nazis, with the price of staying in the basement.
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Liesel and Max soon become friends, and they exchange their nightmares. Often, Max is brawling with Hitler, and Liesel has visions of her brother.
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Liesel receives another another book for her 13th birthday, but her love of books wasn't satisfied and she still looked for more books to steal.
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Feeling bad that he wasn't able to give Liesel a gift, Max painted over a copy of Mein Kampf, and gave Liesel a new book; "The Standover Man".
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The mayor's wife let Liesel borrow a book from her massive library. Unfortunately, a bully stole it and threw it into a river. Luckily, Rudy Steiner was there the recover "The Whistler" and demanded a kiss as a reward (he never got it).
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Having never seen snow before because he lived in a hotter area, Max was amazed at the first snowfall. Liesel introduces him to snow, and they make a snowman.
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One day, Max suddenly collapses by the Hubermann's fire out of nowhere, and he won't wake up. Rosa says it's because his body is not used to the cold temperatures and the snow, but Hans says it was because of the stress of Hitler and the Nazis that made him collapse.
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The end of the second world war officially closed when Japan formally surrendered on September 2nd.
