Student Name: _______________________________________________ Hour: _______ Date: ________________
THE BOOK THIEF
PART 3
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS
THE WAY HOME
Close and Critical Reading
A. Highlight evidence that Liesel is uneasy about her book thievery.
B. Highlight evidence that Hans is a practical man—despite his idealism.
C. Highlight examples of foreshadowing.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. After Liesel steals, she is most fearful that _______________ will discover her crime. What does this suggest,
especially in light of the political climate in Germany at the time? Explain.
2. What two things does Liesel promise Hans? Be specific.
3. What do the last two lines of the chapter suggest?
THE MAYOR’S LIBRARY
Close and Critical Reading
A. Highlight examples of simile.
B. Highlight evidence in the text that helps define Liesel’s code of conduct for herself.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. Why does Liesel avoid the mayor’s house on her laundry delivery route? Explain.
2. Why is Liesel so relieved after she leaves the mayor’s house? Be specific.
3. What is Liesel’s reaction to the mayor’s library? Explain.
4. Why does Liesel return to the mayor’s house? What does this suggest about her character? Explain.
5. Describe the nature of Liesel’s relationship with the mayor’s wife at this point in the novel.
ENTER THE STRUGGLER
Close and Critical Reading
A.
B.
C.
D.
Highlight an example of parallelism from the text.
Highlight examples of simile.
Highlight examples of hyperbole.
Highlight the most significant example of foreshadowing from the chapter.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. How does Death describe the Jew in hiding (later revealed as Max Vandenburg)?
2. Describe what is has been like for Max to live in hiding. Be sure to discuss his living conditions, physical
health, and mental outlook.
3. How does the author use the various literary devices (i.e. simile, hyperbole, etc.) to emphasize Max’s
suffering?
4. Max must leave his place of hiding and seek out a man by the name of ______________________________.
Student Name: _______________________________________________ Hour: _______ Date: ________________
PART 3 CONT.
THE ATTRIBUTES OF SUMMER
Close and Critical Reading
A.
B.
C.
D.
Highlight lines from the text that illustrate how eleven-year-olds flirt.
Highlight lines from the text that illustrate how devastated Ilsa Hermann was by her son’s death.
Highlight lines from the text that support one the primary themes from the novel: words are power.
Highlight examples of foreshadowing.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. Why was the book that Liesel rescued from the fire deemed “dangerous” by the Nazi authorities? Explain.
2. According to Ilsa Hermann, her son “froze to death.” According to Death, how did he really die? Be specific.
HINT: Death makes an allusion to famous event in world history that was discussed in your power point notes.
3. Re-read your response to question #2. Why does Ilsa Hermann always wear her bathrobe? Explain.
4. Why is Liesel drawn to Ilsa Hermann? Be specific.
5. Rudy’s father was a bit relieved when Nazis liquidated the Jewish population from Molching because it
eliminated all the competition from Jewish tailors. What happened to his business was a result? What is ironic
about this? Explain.
6. What motivates Rudy and Liesel to steal? What does this suggest about the nature of crime? Explain.
THE ARYAN SHOPKEEPER
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. Why did the writer include this brief chapter? Consider the writer’s purpose in your response. HINT: think
about character development and the importance of setting.
THE STRUGGLER, CONTINUED
Close and Critical Reading
A. Highlight examples of irony from the chapter.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. What book does Max carry with him on the train? What is taped inside of it?
2. Re-read your response to question #1. Explain the two ways in which the situation is ironic.
3. As Max leaves his hiding place, he thinks to himself, “he was German. Or more to the point, he had been.”
What does he mean here? Explain.
Student Name: _______________________________________________ Hour: _______ Date: ________________
PART 3 CONT.
TRICKSTERS
Close and Critical Reading
A.
B.
C.
D.
Highlight evidence from the text that suggests that books mean more to Liesel than money.
Highlight lines from the text that help define Liesel, Rudy, and Arthur’s sense of honor.
Highlight lines from the text that help define the complexity and often contradictory nature of human beings.
Highlight examples of foreshadowing from the text.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. After Liesel and Rudy acquire their feast from Otto Strum, what do they do with it? What does this suggest
about their characters?
2. What happens to Arthur Berg in Cologne? Be specific.
3. How does Liesel and Rudy acquire the money to buy candy from Frau Diller?
4. At the counter of Frau Diller’s store, Death recalls, “The framed Führer looked proud of them.” What does this
line imply about the narrator’s attitude toward Hitler and his Nazi regime? Explain.
CONTINUED 
THE STRUGGLER, CONCLUDED
Close and Critical Reading
A. Highlight examples of personification.
B. Highlight evidence from the text that suggests that Max is a character haunted by guilt.
Short Answer.
Be sure you respond to the questions using complete sentences for full credit.
1. How does the use of personification convey Max’s paranoia and fear?
2. Based on evidence from the text, how would Max define “sin”?