The Book Thief, Part 1

I consider myself to be a good speller, and I know the i before e rule, but for some reason whenever I type the word thief, I want to spell it theif.  Why is that?  But other than that minor issue, I am loving this book.  I like the random bits of German that are thrown in because they make me feel good about how much German I actually retained from those 4 years in high school and 2 semesters in college.  But most of all, I like Rudy.  He is such a lovable guy - mischievous and reckless but also incredibly loyal and caring.   I like the main character Liesel also, but for some reason she doesn't seem as special as Rudy.  Liesel is tough and resilient enough that you want to cheer for her to keep going, but Rudy's character I think has more of a spark and seems more alive.  He's the sidekick character in the action movie who you know is not going to make it to the end because he's just a little too larger than life.  A kid who paints himself black with charcoal and runs around the park pretending to be Jesse Owens is probably going to have some problems in Nazi Germany, and the narrator tells us about 1/2 way through the book that Rudy is going to meet with a tragic end.  Obviously this made me sad and upset and a little angry, but as I continue reading, I think it's kind of interesting to know that a character is going to die before it actually happens.  Now I feel like I'm getting a chance to say goodbye whenever Rudy appears, or like he was given 3 months to live 6 months ago and keeps hanging on.  I'm sure I'll still cry though when it actually happens :(