Chapter 7 Summary

Part 1: The Visitor (Story Excerpt)

Set in World War II Germany, this excerpt from "The Book Thief" follows Liesel Meminger and her foster parents, the Hubermanns, who are secretly hiding a Jewish man named Max Vandenburg.

• The Impending Threat
  Liesel is playing football on Himmel Street when she notices agents of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) inspecting houses. They are measuring basements to see if they are suitable as air-raid shelters.
• Liesel's Quick Thinking
  Realizing she must warn her parents that inspectors are coming, Liesel orchestrates a collision during her soccer game. She crashes into a larger boy, Klaus Behrig, and feigns a severe injury to her knee to justify going home immediately without raising suspicion.
• The Warning
  Liesel rushes home and informs her foster father, Papa (Hans Hubermann), about the inspections. The family is seized by panic because they have no time to move Max from his hiding place in the basement.
• The Decision
  Hans and Rosa decide the only option is to do nothing and act normal. They cannot hide Max elsewhere, so they instruct him to hide under the stairs while they wait upstairs.
• The Inspection
  A cheerful Nazi party member arrives at the house. He is friendly and chats with the family, even joking about Liesel’s injury, which increases the tension given the deadly secret they are keeping.
• The Longest Three Minutes
  The inspector goes down to the basement alone to measure it. Upstairs, the family waits in agonizing silence. In the basement, Max hides beneath the staircase, terrified and holding a pair of rusty scissors for protection.
• The Resolution
  The inspector returns and announces that the basement is too shallow to serve as a proper shelter. He leaves the house without discovering Max.
• The Aftermath
  Once the danger passes, the Hubermanns rush to the basement. They find Max soaked in sweat and trembling, apologizing for the danger he put them in. Rosa and Hans reassure him, grateful that they have all survived the encounter.

Part 2: Helen Keller (Poem)

A tribute poem by Langston Hughes focusing on the inner strength of Helen Keller.

• Finding Light in Darkness
  The poem describes how Helen Keller, despite living in the physical darkness of blindness, found a "light" brighter than what many sighted people ever see.
• Inner Mastery
  It highlights how she found loveliness within herself through the mastery of her own soul.
• A Gift to the World
  The poet concludes that the world receives a great "dower" (gift or wealth) from her: the message of strength and inner power that overcomes physical limitations.