The BookThief

The general setting and time of The Book Thief is roughly from 1939 to 1943. The rough summary of the bulk of the book is about a young girl named Liesel, who she and her mother are on a train, when suddenly her brother Werner dies. They get off immediately at the next stop to bury him. One of the gravediggers had a book in his hand, but he drops it, and Liesel picks it up. Liesel and her mother keep going to Munich, then to a place called Molching. When her parents are sick, Liesel needs to be put with foster parents. She is put with a couple named Hans and Roma. Liesel has nightmares about her brother who died on the train, when she first arrives at the Hubermann’s house and she would wake up screaming. Liesel goes to a school, where she is made study with the younger children because she is behind in her education. Liesel turns ten in February, and is given a doll by the her foster parents. She also gets a uniform, and is enrolled in the Hitler. Her foster mother starts taking Liesel with her when she gets washing from the neighbors in Molching, and when Liesel is old enough she is going to start doing the same thing also.
To celebrate Hitler’s birthday, the people of Molching gather for a bonfire during where they burn enemy articles,such as flags, including books. Liesel sees one book that survives the fire and hides it under her shirt. She's beginning to realize that Hitler is responsible for her brother's death and her mother's absence, and she hates him for it. Ilsa Hermann sees Liesel take the book and decides to share her own love of books with Liesel by inviting her into her library. Max Vandenburg is hiding in a storage closet in Stuttgart and getting help from his friend Walter Kugler. Walter has been in touch with Ha...

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...ion, instead of a car, so this signifies the time period of the book. Also, the fact that the students would have to do drills often, and get under their desks, indicates that it was in time of a war, and it says in the book it was starting at 1939.
In the book I noticed that there were some real fictional characters, and some non-fictional characters. Liesel, and Rudy for example would be fictional. Though, Stalin and Hitler would be non-fictional characters. These historical figures do belong in this time period because in this period, they got there name, they became known to the world, not necessarily for doing something good, but they did bad things to others and their own country. Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party and Germany during this period, until his death during the war’s final leg. Stalin was the leader of the U.S.S.R during this time period also.