First, I guess I better put a disclaimer. I do not own The Book Thief. There's no way I could have written something that beautiful.

The book thief in a nutshell

For anyone who has not read it

The book thief cries

As her brother Werner dies.

By his graveside she picks up

A black book on which she cannot sup

Her empty stomach growls and rages

As she leafs through the illegible pages.

Then after tears and a mild struggle,

She arrives in the Himmel Street rubble

Houses stuck side by side

In one, her new papa and mama reside

One is nice and plays the accordion here and fro,

The other as wide as she is low.

On the street she meets her best friend,

Who she refuses to kiss until the end.

His hair is color of lemons, eyes are blue,

He once pretended to be Jesse Owens, as everyone knew.

Together they go on adventures through paths and trees,

Through apple orchards and mayor's wife's libraries

And then the book thief learns to read,

And so develops a particular need

To get books wherever and whenever she can,

Even if they are books on which there is a ban.

Then she meets the poor Max Vanderburg,

With whom she gets the urge

To be with, to read with, to talk with

Unfortunately he is considered Jewish filth

So he has to hide in their basement until one fateful day

When he is no longer able to stay,

Since Hans has been declared a Jew-lover,

And he's scared the Nazi's will see through Max's cover

So he leaves, but never comes back,

And Liesel's heart goes crack.

Especially when Hans is sent off to war,

She's not sure when he will once more walk through the door.

Thankfully he comes back with only one broken bone,

But all that matters is that he has come home

Liesel discovers Max's book, The Word Shaker -

He becomes her heart taker.

She sees him once more in a Jewish parade,

But then there is the air raid.

Hans, Rosa, Rudy, everyone,

Is killed except for one.

The book thief, occupied with writing,

Is spared from the fighting.

Her book is now complete, her heart shattered,

And destruction scattered

She is saved by the Hermanns, finds Max

And lives to a ripe old age.