In April 1940, Liesel steals her second book. By now, the Nazis have instituted public book burnings, and the girl is eager to get her hands on another volume. Its title is The Shoulder Shrug.

By the end of 1939, rationing has begun. Liesel’s reading abilities are slowly improving, and she receives two new books for Christmas. They are titled Faust the Dog and The Lighthouse. When she asks her father how he paid for them, he says he traded a gypsy in the marketplace with some of his precious cigarettes. 

As times become harder in wartime Germany, Rosa loses a few of her laundry customers. She insists that Liesel should perform pickups and deliveries alone because people will feel sorry for the child and not take their business away.