Books of "The Book Thief" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Her brother's funeral

The story "The Book Thief" opens with Death meeting Liesel Meminger when he takes the soul of her brother. They are on a train and her brother, Werner, dies. He is buried, and, at the funeral, Liesel spots a black book in the snow. She pockets the book and later discovers that it's "The Gravedigger's Handbook".

This becomes the first book that Liesel reads and her first entrance into the world of thievery as well as words, both of which will become important aspects of her life.

Answer: Mama and Papa

When Liesel's mother, Paula, drops off Liesel to stay with the Hubermanns without telling Liesel why, or even for how long, she is reluctant to even enter their house. Hans and Rosa have agreed to foster Liesel and she is dropped off. They tell her to call them "Mama" and "Papa", which at first Liesel does with much reluctance.

After a while it becomes more habitual, but, as her relationship with the Hubermanns develops, she actually begins to feel affection for Hans and Rosa as though they were her actual Mama and Papa. Rosa is a foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails woman who hides a big heart, while Hans is quite the opposite, a quiet man who wears his heart on his sleeve.

Answer: Max Vandenburg

"The Shoulder Shrug" was a story about a Jew which did not vilify him, therefore, it was unacceptable to the Nazi regime under Hitler. It got thrown into the bonfire for Hitler's birthday, however, it remained on the side of the fire and was only smouldering when Liesel took it. She hid it under her dress and hurried home with Hans, only, smoke started to come up out of her dress and he caught on to what she did, though not disapprovingly.

Max Vandenburg is a Jew whose father was close with Hans. When the lives of all the Jews of Germany are in peril, Hans agrees to shelter Max, at great personal risk. Rosa, too, does this without question. In their eyes, a human life is a human life, no matter what the party propaganda says.

Answer: Mein Kampf

"Mein Kampf", Hitler's manifesto, is not a book that gets stolen by Liesel, however, it actually plays a part in her life. Originally, Hans trades some cigarettes to get a copy for two reasons: to curry favour with the party he originally shunned when it rose to power; and to provide Max, the Jew he is saving, a bit of cover while he travels to find Hans' and Rosa's house. Also, the key to their house it taped on the inside.

Max shows up at the Hubermann house with the copy of "Mein Kampf". Apart from his meager personal belongings, this is all he owns. When Liesel's birthday comes around, he is sorry that this is all he can give her. However, seeing cans of unused paint in the basement, he realizes that he can whitewash the pages of "Mein Kampf" and he then recreates them into a story of his own. This is how "The Standover Man", a story by Max, is born.

Answer: The mayor's wife

Ilsa Hermann is a troubled soul. She leads a privileged life, being the Bürgermeister's (mayor's) wife and living in their big house on the hill, however, her son had died and left her broken. Her house has a great library that is mostly unused, and she welcomes Liesel into the library to read when Liesel is picking up and dropping off the laundry that Rosa does for the mayor.

When Ilsa has to cancel the laundry services, Liesel is furious. Now, without a reason to go in, she doesn't have access to the books. However, this is when Liesel starts sneaking in through the conveniently-open window and she starts stealing books. However, during an encounter with Ilsa, Liesel realizes that Ilsa has known all along that Liesel is the book thief.

Ilsa gifts Liesel a copy of "The Complete Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus" to help her look up the difficult words, but also to help her when she is writing. She also gifts her an empty diary, something that is directly responsible for saving Liesel's life.

Answer: A plate of cookies

About two weeks after Christmas, Rudy and Liesel break into the Hermanns' library to steal another book and a plate of cookies are waiting for them. They are kipferl, crescent cookies, and they clearly were left over from the holiday, but the two hungry kids don't care, they take them anyway. Liesel sees another book that she wants, "The Last Human Stranger", and the mayor's wife, Ilsa, confronts Liesel before she makes her exit.

The mayor's wife admits that she is aware that Liesel has been stealing books, but, since the library is mostly hers, she is happy to give the books away to someone like Liesel who will appreciate them.

Answer: Rudy Steiner

Rudy Steiner is Liesel's best friend, but he is also a bit in love with her. Always loyal, always headstrong, he comes from a large family, rich in love but poor in wealth. He lives in the rented house next door to Liesel and gets to know her when playing soccer in the street, and from school. They are kindred spirits and take to each other right away, which is probably why they develop a childhood attraction to one another.

Since they are poor and looking for ways to find food, they join a gang who steal things from neighbouring farms. The next year, the leader of the gang changes. The new leader, Viktor Chemmel, is unusually cruel and mean to both Rudy and Liesel. The two leave the gang, but not before Rudy insults Viktor, who vows to get Rudy back one day. Later, when the two run into the older boy, he takes Liesel's book and tosses it into the river. Rudy, ever-loyal, jumps into the river to save it.

Answer: Air-raid shelter

When the bombings start in Germany, the army comes to check to see where the basements are deep enough to be suitable air-raid shelters. The Hubermann's basement is deemed to be too shallow, therefore it is unsafe. The shelter that Liesel and the Hubermanns are assigned to is at the Fiedlers' house. Twenty-two people are crammed into the same basement.

When the first raid doesn't hit Molching, a sigh of relief is breathed. However, the second night the raid is real and tensions get high. In the midst of the craziness, Liesel sees her copy of "The Whistler" and begins to read out loud, in the dim light, mostly for herself. However, by the end of the chapter, and the air raid, everyone in the shelter is raptly listening to her.

Answer: Dachau concentration camp

Max leaves the Hubermanns because he feels like he is putting them in danger. He attempts to make it on his own, living off of the country. However, as he was on his way to Stuttgart, he got picked up by the Nazis and sent to Dachau. As he is being taken to Dachau, he is paraded through the streets of Molching and Liesel sees him. Risking her own life and reputation, she makes herself known to Max and, by doing so, gives him hope and humanity.

Max would survive the war when the Americans liberated the concentration camp. Despite this, they would not let Liesel in to look for her friend. However, a few months later, Liesel was working at Alex Steiner's tailor shop when Max came looking for her.

Answer: Death

When Himmel Street is bombed in 1943, it was without warning. After three nights of light bombing on the suburb of Munich, it was the night when the sirens weren't started that the town was hit (accidentally) by a major Allied bombing, and the poor neighbourhood of Himmel Street is hit the hardest. Liesel, working in her basement on her book, "The Book Thief", is the only survivor.

Death comes to the neighbourhood to pick up souls. Nearby, he picks up the souls of the Steiners, including Liesel's best friend Rudy. In Liesel's house, he picks up the souls of Hans and Rosa. Liesel is seen and observed by Death, but he does not collect her. However, he does see her book lying in a pile of rubbish, and pockets it.

Many years later, when Liesel is 90 and living in Sydney, Australia, Death comes to collect Liesel's soul. At that point, he hands her back her book and she asks him if he read it. He says that he has, many times, and admits that Death "is haunted by humans".