In Molching, Germany 1938, Liesel is sent to live on 33 Himmel street with a German foster family: Hans, the father, a kind but shy man who teaches Liesel how to read and plays the accordion and Rosa, a short, plump woman who is said to have ‘’ A face as creased-up as cardboard.’’ She swears frequently and is never joyous. But somehow she still manages to show her love and affection for Liesel.
Liesel herself is kind-hearted and humorous despite the fact that she is traumatized over her brother’s death (he died on the train on the way to Molching). However she can also be very hostile and irritable. She is one of my favorite characters because she is flawed and therefore easy to relate to.
She integrates herself well amongst the community of Himmel Street. The first few chapters are about her and her best friend Rudy, a blue-eyed boy with ''hair the color of lemons''. He is loud, obnoxious and obsessed by Jesse Owens (a colored runner). One day he even paints his whole body black and sprints across the street.
Although Liesle is 10 years old, she is still unable to read. So when she wakes up at night after dreaming about her dead brother, Hans teaches her to read. The first book she ever reads is 'The Gravedigger’s Handbook' which she stole at her brother’s funeral.

In 1939 the Nazis presence is always very apparent in Molching. Liesle and Rudy are forced to join The Hitler Youth Club and for the Führer’s birthday there is a massive fire in Molching. They  burn books that promote Jews. At the end of the fire Liesle steals a book and hides it inside her coat. She then sneaks away, thinking that nobody saw her.
A few days later, when Liesle is delivering washing ( a job she and her mother do to earn a little money) the Mayor’s wife, Isla Hermann, invites her inside her library to read. It turns out that she had seen Liesle steal a book from the fire.
For the next 18 months or so, Liesle visits Isla’s library at least once a week. Then, the mayor’s wife announces that she can’t keep paying for her washing because of the war and the lack of money. Liesle is furious and yells cruel things at her before running out the house.

Back on 33 Himmel Street, the Hubermann’s have a visitor: Max, a skinny, 24 year old Jew . It was his father who taught Hans Hubermann to play the accordion in World War I.
For the first few weeks, Max sleeps whilst Liesle secretly observes him. ‘’He has hair like feathers’’ she tells Hans.
At first Liesle is shy and doesn’t interact much with Max, but they quickly become good friends due to their many similarities: They both fist fight, have nightmares and find it comforting when Hans plays the accordion.

While Max is in the Hubermann’s basement, Rudy and Liesle start stealing apples from farms and books from Isla’s library.

In 1943 the air raids begin. Everyone on Himmel street finds shelter in their neighbors basement although Max is forced to stay behind. While in the basement Liesle reads to 20 or so people to comfort the adults and calm the children.
Max's departure takes place not long after the first air raid. As the Jews march through the town towards Dachau, a nearby concentration camp, Hans offers a starving and elderly man a piece of bread. Both Hans and the man are whipped. Hans only realizes how stupid he was afterwards. Now the Gestapo will come search his house and find Max! So he is obliged to leave.
Instead of searching his house though, the Gestapo come to take Hans to the army and Rudy to train to be a Nazi. Alex Steiner, Rudy’s father refuses so he too is forced to join the army. Fortunately Hans is in a car crash that only breaks his leg so he is able to return home.
A few weeks later Liesle and Max are reunited, but not in a good way at all: Max is starving and marching to Dachau with many other Jews. There is nothing Liesle can do.
Liesle is devastated for the next few months but soon starts becoming creative. Every night she creeps into the basement and writes the story of her life, inspired by Max.

One night, around midnight, as she is writing in the basement, Himmel street is bombed. Her entire family is killed, as are the Steiners (except for Alex who is still in the army). Liesle stays alive only because she stays in the basement. However I was aware of this before reading this particular chapter because the narrator tells everyone at the beginning, ''Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest and astound me''.
Isla takes her to the police who call Alex Steiner. For the next few months she stays with him, helping him in his shoe shop.
Finally, in October 1945, a familiar figure comes into the shop, asking for Liesle Meminger. It is Max! ''They hug and cry and fall to the floor''.

A few decades later Liesel is a grandmother living in Sydney. She has had a long and happy life and is ready to meet her death.

The book itself is narrated by Death. He takes a special interest in Liesel because he reads her diary, the one she wrote in the basement. I personally find the whole idea of Death narrating a story quite morbid and would have preferred it if the narrator didn't appear in the story so much. Apart from that small detail though, it was one of the best books I have ever read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to read.