Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli Date of Publication: 2003 ISBN:0440420059 Number of Pages: 209

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: High
GENRES: Historical Fiction
THEMES: Prejudice, Loyalty, Coming of Age, Survival, Good versus Evil, Appearance versus Reality

SUMMARY:
The main character has no name, no home, no family, no background - no identity. He steals food, sleeps in the street, and survives by escaping capture. He is a good thief. At the start of the novel, the only identity he can claim is being called a Jew, a filthy son of Abraham, a Gypsy, and “Stopthief.” He sleeps in a cellar with a group of boys who steal to stay alive and do their best to be invisible to the “Jackboots.” From his companion Uri, the leader of the street gang, he learns his name is Misha and that he truly is a Gypsy. It is Uri who guides Misha through life on the streets.

One day Misha sees a girl he knows, named Janina, herded into the Warsaw Ghetto with her family, and he knows he must follow her. His life in the ghetto is hard and filled with unspeakable moments. He stumbles across dead bodies and eats rotten food. He finds a way to escape the ghetto but keeps going back to take care of Janina and her family, until one day when he sees Janina being herded onto a train. In his attempts to save her, he is shot and almost killed by Uri. He spends time healing at a farm, only to realize that he actually owes Uri his life, as the reader learns Janina’s fate was to end up being killed in a gas chamber.

WHO WOULD LIKE TO READ THIS BOOK? A kid who...

• is nuts about historical fiction
• is interested in the Holocaust
• likes underdogs
• can tolerate strong writing and graphic scenes that are historically accurate

RELATED LINKS:
Interview with the Author
Lesson plans and Enrichment Activities