Summary
This is a story of many things that are all tied to Liesel Meminger: the Book Thief. Liesel is a Lutheran, German girl whose journey begins when her brother dies on a train. At the half funeral, she picks up the book, "The Gravedigger's Handbook." After, she is dropped off at Molching and has many adventures, which include: stealing books out of the mayor's house, hiding a Jew, stealing with a lemon hair boy, playing soccer, and reading in a bomb shelter.
Yet, it isn't all about Liesel. You see, this book is told by the view of Death. Not an evil Death, one who is, "haunted by humans." So, as it is told by Death, we get to see many different sides of their story. You get to see stories and points from where people died that were connected to Liesel. This adds a very strange and different tone to the book, with sudden interruptions giving you more info.
There are many people who also affect the story in different ways. Since the story is told by Death, it is told from everyone's point of view, since they soon all met up with Death. Some of the people change Liesel and the story for the better, some for the worst. These people include a Jew named Max, who is taken in by Papa, her Papa, who takes in a Jew, a boy named Rudy, and Death itself. For more info on each of these characters, including Liesel, click on the tabs.
(Page 223 is the chapter called "Pages from the Basement.")