It takes some time, but eventually Liesel adjusts to life on Himmel Street. She befriends Hans Hubermann, her foster father, along with a boy named Rudy almost instantly. The beginning of World War Two lurks in the background of Liesel's life as her family starts to struggle to make ends meet and Max Vandenburg, a Jew, turns up outside her door. Yet, things are still bearable. Hans Hubermann still plays the accordion while Rosa Hubermann, her foster mother, still yells.
Eventually, with lots of help from her foster father and thievery, Liesel learn how to read. She turns to books when events become too much to handle, along with the days when they aren't. Life might not be perfect for Liesel, but it could be a lot worse and she seems to know this:
"That summer was a new beginning, a new end. When I look back, I remember my slippery hands of paint and the sound of Papa's feet on Munchin Street, and I know that a small piece of the summer of 1942 belonged to only one man. Who else would do some painting for the price of half a cigarette? That was Papa, that was typical, and I loved him." (Zusak, Markus. The book thief. United States: Random House, 2005. Print.)
For Liesel to be able to call something typical, she has to know how it usually behaves, so to speak. In order for her to know that, she'd have to be around it long enough to observe and/or hear about it. Besides, if Liesel wasn't familiar or comfortable with her foster father why would she say she loved him?
My conclusion is that Book Thief doesn't take Liesel out of her ordinary world; it brings the horrors of war in. Horrors, that someone like Liesel should never have to witness.
