Eli Dershwitz
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
Historical Fiction
Challenge

1. Right now in the book Rudy is being asked by the Nazis if he will join a spy agency for talented kids. Rudy got three gold medals at the field day for his Hitler youth program. He told Liesel he would win them for her so he did and now Germany wants him to be a spy. When Rudie's father says no to the Gestapo, they decide to send him into war. He goes off to fight in Russia along Liesel's father for feeding a Jew on the street. Now both families do not have a father to support them in these harsh times.

2. So far in this book I feel that it is the best book I have ever read, but in a different way. It's not like an action pack book like the usual ones I like to read. It is a sad story about what has happened in our history. It actually makes you think about how so many people could actually let this go on for so long. I feel like it teachers people what it is like, for Jews, and regular people affected by the war. I really think that this book shows a lot of what happened and how we can prevent it in the future.

3. One theme in this book that I have noticed so far is friendship. Rudy's family and Liesel's family are both sent off to fight for Germany. They both did noble things and their families really need to stick together in order to thank their fathers for what they did. Rudy's dad went to war to protect his son from coming a spy. Liesel's father decided that feeding one Jewish man in the street that was starving, was worth the punishment. Both families do not have a lot of money and the only thing they have is friendship.

4. My favorite character right now in the book is Liesel's father, Hans Huberman. He is not rich at all but his family has a house and they are not starving. He does nice work for the neighborhood for free, for people that can't afford to pay. He also plays the accordion, which he is amazing at, to help make the city of Molching a happier place. He is just an overall nice guy. He always knows what to say at the right time, and he's always next to Liesel when she is having nightmares. He also decided to feed a starving Jew who was walking through the street, knowing his punishment would be very harsh.

5. My least favorite character right now is Frau Herman. She is a shop owner that lives right down the street from the Huberman's. She actually believes that what Hitler is doing is the right thing. She thinks Jews are a species lesser then her own. She sells some illegal items at her shop to try and make some extra money to send to the Nazi Party. After Hans Huberman got sent off to fight in the war, she tells his family that he was a "Jew lover" and that he deserves to die. She spits on their house whenever she walks by saying that they are filth just like the Jews. I think she is an evil pig and that she does not deserve to live because of what she believes in.

6. I think that some major disaster is going to fall over the town of Molching. Liesel, the narrator, hints many times in the book about how this person only has a couple months to live. I think Liesel will live for some miraculous reason because she lives to tell the tale of everything that happened in her life. I also think that both fathers will survive because they are off fighting the Russians. I predict that when they come back, Rudy's dad will have lost everything. Mr. Huberman will have also lost everything except for his daughter Liesel.