The Book Thief Chapter 56

The Sky Stealer

• That air raid was actually a false alarm.
• No bombing occurs.
• But, the next air raid, the air raid of September 19, 1942, is very real.
• The radio alerts them this time.
• Again, the people of Himmel Street make their way to the Fielders' basement.
• Again, Hans leaves behind the accordion, for good luck.
• In the basement, Rosa holds Liesel's hand so tightly she has to ask Rosa to stop.
• Liesel who has, again, brought all her books, begins reading aloud from The Whistler.
• Rudy is the first to start listening, but soon everybody is.
• Liesel realizes that her reading is, for these people, like Hans' accordion-playing is for her—very comforting.
• As she reads, she thinks of Max and reading to him when he was sick.
• She wonders if he's "stealing a glimpse of sky again" (56.22).
• After some time, the sirens alert them that the air-raid is over.
• Liesel calmly finished the paragraph she's reading.
• We are given the fourth word from Liesel's dictionary, "Wort – Word" (56.29).
• As they are leaving, people thank Liesel for reading to them.
• The bombs haven't reached Himmel Street.
• At home, they gather around Max in the basement.
• Hans tells him everything that happened.
• Rosa prompts Hans to tell about Liesel reading The Whistler to the people.
• Death thinks that when Max imagines Liesel reading to the people in the bomb shelter, he gets the idea for the title piece in his book, The Word Shaker.
• Liesel asks Max if he peeked out at the sky this time.
• He didn't.
• Death doesn't know about Hans and Rosa, but he knows what's in Liesel's mind:
  [I]f the bombs ever landed on Himmel Street not only did Max have less chance for survival […], but he would die completely alone. (56.46)