Sunday, August 1, 2010

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Publisher:  Scholastic, 2003
Pages:  208
Source:  My shelves
Genre:  Middle Grades Historical Fiction

The year is 1939 and the Nazis' have marched into Warsaw, Poland. It is a period when orphans must steal to survive. This is the story of a nameless boy who only knows his name as Stopthief. When he runs into another thief and orphan Uri he is taken under Uri's wing. Uri sees him as senseless. He creates a name and a history for him. This is how he becomes Misha. Misah goes everywhere Uri goes. He sees Uri giving food and coal to an orphanage and he does the same. Then he steal a couple of tomatoes from a yard and finds the young girl who lives there. He starts leaving food for her and her family. When they are relocated to a ghetto he finds them and tries to help. Helping gets him into trouble where Uri must once again bail him out. This is a story of home and survival. It is no wonder that it has won so many awards. It should be a must read for every child studying the Holocaust.

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