The Book Thief Chapter 20

Book of Fire

• Liesel and Hans are walking out of the town square, but one of Hans' acquaintances stops him and asks him if he's been accepted into the Nazi party yet.
• Meanwhile, Liesel is drawn to the big pile of burned books. It reminds her of "the road of yellow stars" (20.9) (the street of Jewish houses).
• She watches as the men shovel the ash into carts.
• She sees them remove "Half a red flag, two posters advertising a Jewish poet, three books, and a wooden sign with something written on it in Hebrew" (20.15). (Hebrew is the language of worship in Judaism.)
• Liesel isn't sure why the books didn't burn—they are "survivors" (20.16).
• The clean-up men go over to their truck, and Liesel sees her opportunity.
• She grabs a book. It has a blue cover, and she can see the word "Shoulder." The book is still smoking.
• Liesel stands very still and watches as the clean-up men come by. She hears footsteps, then sees the mayor in his Nazi suit. He doesn't see Liesel.
• The book isn't quite so hot now, and Liesel puts it under her clothes, against her chest.
• As she walks toward Hans and his acquaintance, the book starts to feel pretty warm.
• Uh oh. She feels like someone has seen her.
• She turns to look—it's a shadow with "fluffy hair" (20.43).
• Liesel curses.
• Liesel and Papa leave the square.
• Papa notices something is wrong with Liesel.
• For one thing, there's smoke coming out of her clothes.
• The book under her clothes is burning her.