Part 2 Chapters 1-3

   The first chapter of part two was the narrator talking by himself. He talked about the second time Liesel stole a book, called "The Shoulder Shrug". The book was blue with red engraving on the cover, in addition to a small picture of a cuckoo bird right beneath the words. She got the book at the book-burning, on April 20th of 1940. It was exactly 463 days from the first book she had ever stolen, "The Grave Digger's Handbook". So what made her do such an attempt? Well according to the narrator, "it was anger and hatred that fueled her to steal it." We won't know what happened to the past four or five months that culminated in such a feeling until later on, but we do know one thing. It's that the book played an important role in her's and Hans's life. For Liesel, "it would provide her with a venue for continued book thievery" and for Hans, "it would inspire him to come up with a plan to help the Jewish fist fighter." Not only that, but it would also show the narrator, that "one opportunity leads directly to another, just as risk leads to more risk, life to more life, and death to more death."

   The second chapter took place in December when it was snowing on Himmel street. By this time, she had settled into life in Molching pretty well, though she still had nightmares of her brother, and missed her mother. She loved Hans and Rosa, despite her abusages and verbal assaults. Her friendship with Rudy was pretty well too. All this resulted in some form of contentment and would soon reach the concept of being happy. There were three keys to happiness for her at this time; finishing the "Grave Digger's Handbook", escaping the ire from Sister Maria, and receiving two books for Christmas. Starting from the first, she eventually finished reading the "Grave Digger's Handbook" on December 17th. That night, Liesel asked if she could read two chapters in a row so she could finally finish reading it. With Hans nearly sleeping a few times, they finally finished reading the last chapter early in the morning. There had been no tests at school during that time, and Liesel was slowly gaining her confidence back from the incident back in November. By this time, her reading definitely improved and she could read texts without trouble, aside from the fact that she remained stranded at a much slower pace compared to her classmates. In class, she did not talk as much compared to before and so stopped getting Watschen as much. And this was her second happiness, escaping the ire of Sister Maria. When Christmas came, her third happiness visited, she received two books. She had expected to receive no Christmas presents as the Hubermanns were essentially broke, but Hans got her two books for her. When she asked how he paid them off a few days later, he started rolling his cigarettes, saying: "eight cigarettes per book."

   The third chapter started with Liesel and Rosa going on the daily routine of deliveries (as Rosa works as a washerwoman.) However, this day when they visited one of their client (Ernst Vogel) to return his clean clothes, he announced he would no longer be able to afford to have his washing and ironing done. Not more than one week after this incident, Rosa came up with a plan so that no more clients would quit getting their clothes done (as this would result in lower wages.) It was for Liesel to go on the deliveries alone and tell Rosa is sick, in order for the clients to feel pity for them, and therefore continue on paying them. Liesel actually enjoyed doing the deliveries alone as it would mean going outside alone and no finger-pointing or cursing from Rosa. At times, Rudy would even join the walk along with her. When the middle of January (1940) came, schoolwork turned its attention to letter writing. From this, Liesel got the idea to write a letter to her mother. She spoke to Hans about it, and he seemed to agree. He even advised her that she should ask Frau Heinrich (the woman who works at the foster care,) to send it to her mother. Liesel noticed that Hans sounded unconvincing, but she still got on with the writing. It took three hours and six drafts to perfect the letter, which the next day, she sent it to Frau Heinrich. The letter was about telling her mother all about Molching, Hans, Rudy Steiner, the exploits of Rosa Hubermann, and that she could read and write a little now. However, the night she wrote the letter she overheard a questioning and concerning conversation from the kitchen. It was Rosa saying: "who knows where she is? Who knows what they've done to her?"