“A NICE THOUGHT One was a book thief.The other stole the sky.”

“One was a book thief. The other stole the sky.”

“Summer came. For the books thief, everything was going nicely. For me, the sky was the color of Jews. ”

“As always, one of her books was next to her.”

“She remembered her books in the moments of worst sorrow, especially the ones that were made for her and the one that saved her life.”

“And I can promise you something, because it was a thing I saw many years later - a vision in the book thief herself - that as she knelt next to Hans Hubermann, she watched him stand and play the accordion. He stood and strapped it on in the alps of broken houses and played the accordion with kindness silver eyes and even a cigarette slouched on his lips. The bellows breathed and the tall man played for Liesel Meminger one last time as the sky was slowly taken away from her.”

“My full name's Ed Kennedy. I'm nineteen. I'm an underage cab driver. I'm typical of many of the young men you see in this suburban outpost of the city -- not a whole lot of prospects or possibility. That aside, I read more books than I should, and I'm decidedly crap at sex and doing my taxes. Nice to meet you. ”