Starting From

Scratch
By Phillip Tran Block C 4/3/14
Fresh Start
At the start of the book we begin a year after WW2 ends.
Liesel had been living with Ilsa and the Mayor of Molching for
almost 3 years. Liesel occasionally gets in contact with Max,
who has found a job in construction to rebuild Germany from
the damage from ww2. They stay in contact with letters and
consistently send each other a letter atleast every 2 weeks
since Max now has his own little house to occupy. Liesels
intelligence has skyrocketed because of the education she
receives from the best teachers in the area as well as
reading from the mayors library. Liesel ends up getting a full
ride to a college in Paris at 17. Right before she she leaves
to Paris, Ilsa and the mayor both give her a pendant that has
a picture of Hans and Rosa on one side as well as a picture
of Ilsa and the mayor on the other.
Opened Gates
When Liesel got to Paris, she thought of how Hans
and Rosa would be proud of what she has
accomplished. When she gets to the college, she is
overwhelmed because of all the things that she is
exposed to and doesnt quite know that her major.
As she talks to Max more frequently, they talk about
how she has a passion for writing and literature so
they both think it is a good idea for her to major in
creative writing. We also find out through the letters
that Max now is the head director of operations the
construction company he is in, and that he is now
well off. Liesel in Paris takes up a part time job as a
librarian where she starts to write more in her free
time. There then is a writing contest at her college
that she participates in where she gets 1st place and
starts to get some recognition in the writing world.
Liesel then starts to write short stories based on her
experiences in her life, further improving her writing
skills.
Facing Reality
As Liesel progresses through college, she gains more of a
reputation as a writer in her college in Paris. For her senior
Thesis, she decides to write a short story on her experiences with
Max. This thesis gets her even more reputation across France.
Liesel decides to tell Max this, in which he is delighted to know
that people will know the experience and retain lessons from it.
When Liesel graduates at 21 years old, Max, Ilsa and the former
mayor all show up to see her get her degree in creative writing.
After college, Liesel tries to get some stories together but she
struggles to think of anything. She ends up moving back to
Molching and with Ilsa. For a year, Liesel continues to struggle to
come up with anything, which frustrates her to the point where she
almost gives up. After that whole year, Liesel ends up stuck in a
almost-permanent writers wall, which she blames the environment
due to what happened in the past. She decides to move to a new,
different place like Australia. Before she goes, she again says bye
to Max, Ilsa and the Mayor and once again embarks on a journey
to a far away place.


Through the Wall
When Liesel does arrive to Australia, she immediately
starts to explore in order to find any inspiration to write.
She does this by reading as much of other authors
material as she can, just like when she was at the mayors
house. She also tries her best to get any ideas by talking
to Max over letters as well. Over the course of a month,
she was just reading and writing letters to Max, barely
eating and bathing. After the month, she has the greatest
idea for a book she could write. Liesel decides to write
about how reading had a profound affect on how she
perceives the world and how it affects her to that day. As
she writes this, she reminisces about all the worldly
experience she has had with books. She writes about
everything that ever involved books, including Himmel
Street, The College, The Mayors library, etc. In the end,
she had a 100 page book called Living Literature, The
book is about how reading can have a profound affect on
life, Liesels being a perfect example.

Fruits of Labor
When Liesels book does get published, it immediately gets the
attention of everyone in the writing and reading world. That world
includes Max, Ilsa and the mayor, all whom end up congratulating her
and show how proud they are and eventually visit Liesel separately,
Max alone and Ilsa and the mayor together. They all praise her about
how she achieved her dream, especially Ilsa who tells Liesel that she
knew this would happen with her interest in reading at a young age. As
the book hits best seller almost in a month, Liesel had to start traveling
again in order to do book signings. Liesel ends up traveling everywhere
you could think of in the world and has fans of her writing in all
countries. Her book actually inspired the Taliban, who have read her
book to allow women to get an education, which is huge as it goes
against their beliefs. This earned her a Nobel Peace Prize which she
gladly accepts with Max, Ilsa and the mayor come to support her.
Being Human
Living Literature reaches its peak popularity as the news of Liesel earning
the Nobel Peace Prize spreads around the world. Liesel makes a
realization that she has been traveling around her whole life, so she
decides to settle down in Australia, of course still writing pieces of
Literature. Liesel finds a side job as a Librarian for a public library in
Sydney. While working Liesel finally has time to truly reflect on the
traumatic events in her life, which she ends up delving too deep into and
starts fall into depression and going through the motions just to get
through the day. She lessens the amount of letters she writes to Max and
Ilsa over time, until it is almost as if she only writes them every other
month. Liesel also starts to binge drink on more of a regular basis to get
away from her past. This trend of depression and numbness goes on for
2 years, it only stops when Liesel realizes what she is doing to herself and
to Max and Ilsa. She realizes it is unfair and starts to go to therapy in order
to treat her problem, all while reconnecting with Ilsa and Max by writing to
them at a higher frequency and eventually visiting them 2 years later after
she gets better. When she tells Max about her experience, he is
understanding about her situation as he too had gone through times of
depression, especially after what happened at Dachau. When she tells
Ilsa, she doesnt say much, only Well at least youre getting better and
proceeds to embrace her to let her know she has her support. When
Liesel gets back to Australia she has a hop in her step again.
Life goes on
Liesel proceeds to publish another book about her fight with depression called
Life goes on. Although not as successful as Living Literature, it still earns her
respect as a writer around the world. One month later when Liesel is 27 , Liesel
was walking around town shopping for clothes when she accidentally collides
into a random guy sprinting. She ends up getting a concussion and has to go to
the hospital. When she gets up 2 days later she wakes up to a Blonde man
standing at her doorway with flowers. He is 30 with above average height, an
average build, has olive eyes and is a man who is dedicated to his work. His
name is Nathan Ottoman and he explains the he was training for the 1960
Olympics and is representing Australia in Track and Field. After his speech and
Liesel having to constantly reassure him it was O.K, they both start talking about
their lives and what they do. Since Liesel has to stay in the hospital for 4 more
days, he visits her every day and talks to her more. After she is out, Nathan asks
Liesel to a dinner which she happily says yes to. Nathan and Liesel go on 3
dates before Liesel even kisses Nathan which although frustrates Nathan
slightly, it makes him only like her more. As the get to know each other, they find
out they both are survivors in a sense as Nathan was abused as a child and had
anxiety and depression for years and overcame it. This bond was only the
beginning of the foundations to their relationship and eventual marriage, facing
challenges with each other and growing together as well, leaving their past
because Life goes on.
Relevance
Through out the sequel, it has a couple of themes that are also in the
1st book. An example of this would be the fact the Liesels book
stopped the Taliban from denying women education, which shows her
power of words. Another example of this would be when Liesel had to
read only for a whole month in order to get any inspiration, showing
both beauty in her commitment and brutality in how she treats her
body in the process. The book also still maintains the characteristics
of Liesel. First of all, she still stays in contact with Max and Ilsa
throughout the book, which shows how she doesnt want to lose her
Family again so she has keep contact. Characteristics of Liesel are
also shown by her potential for writing inferred through Ilsas
character, is blooming and astounding as death also infers throughout
the 1st book. We also see Liesel being a survivor once again, this
time overcoming her depression and emotional numbness.Overall,
this can qualify as a sequel for Liesels characteristics being
maintained and the fact that themes from the 1st book are still
maintained while there are new themes added into the mix as well.