Part 4: The Standover Man

The Accordionist (The Secret Life of Hans Hubbermann)

pgs. 173- 184

What is this? The secret life of an American teenager? What could it possibly be? OH! Wow. That was my initial reaction, but not anymore. I never knew how important an accordion could be. Hans escaped Death twice? Poor Death! Now get over it. 

Wow! Erik Vandenburg said that Hans had neat handwriting, and that kept Hans from dying. That is amazing! It is so nice that Hans offered to repay Erik's family in some way, and now he is!

He painted over the Jewish star?! He is going to be in trouble!!! Good luck to you, Hans! 

He Survived Like This

Hans is so lucky. I would definitely write a million letters over going into battle. There must have been a reason. Maybe it was so Death could become interested in Liesel, so this whole thing could happen! Maybe not. What do you think?

The Swapping of Nightmares

pgs. 207- 222

This chapter was very interesting. At the start, I was already wondering what the title meant. By page 217, I was wondering if it did mean anything. And then came page 220, Death put in one of his pauses. 'The Swapping of Nightmares' Once I read the short pause, I realized that Liesel and Max are a lot alike. It is interesting that they both came to Himmel (may I remind you it means Heaven) street with the sorrows of lost family members. Also, when Death mentioned that Max had started to murmur the names and say 'no' occasionally, I figured that he was seeing the few moments when he left.

I can't believe that one of the few things Max says is 'I'm sorry'. I'm surprised Hans accepts this because Max's father saved his life, and now it is just repaying the family. I wonder if the same thing that happened to Liesel will happen to Max. You don't talk the first few days/ weeks and then you feel more at home and you start talking more.

It was deep in places and scratched apart in others, sometimes breaking of altogether

pg. 217

I love this sentence. It sounds so powerful! When I imagined it, I imagined a hole; really deep in some places, uneven, with rocks falling into it. It was hard for me to imagine that as a life story. It seems like Max has had a tough life. I can't wait to see what happens!

Pages from the Basement

pgs. 223-238

I absolutely love this chapter. Maybe I like it because of the pictures or the emotion or maybe even the thought of it. I think there is a really strong connection between Max and Liesel. I love that Max says that on Liesel's birthday, she gave Max a present. A hug. What it even better is that Max gave her what she loves most. A book. I think this is the best chapter yet!

I think, going more to the factual side, that using Mein Kampf pages mad this chapter a little ironic because Liesel wanted to read it, so she is, the words were just painted over and made better. I also love that in the pictures, Max draws himself as a bird since Liesel said his hair is like feathers. I can't wait to see what happens next! 

There were the erased pages of Mein Kampf, gagging, suffocating under the paint as they turned.

p. 237

I really like this sentence. It sounds really powerful, like Max hates the book even more. Gagging and suffocating in my mind are used for humans, not pages. I think that is why this line is so AWESOME!