Amazingly powerful story about a young orphan who roams the streets of Warsaw, Poland stealing food and striving to be invisible. He doesn't know much about the world until another orphan, Uri, finds him and gives him the name Misha, a history, and a way to become truly invisible. Misha records with unflinching honesty his first experience meeting a Jackboot (Nazi soldiers) and his own naive belief he was safe from them: he's a Gypsy and not a Jew. Above all, Misha is curious - excessively so - and his curiosity leads him into to more than one seriously dangerous situation after another. Sometimes bringing about unexpected happiness, like meeting Janinia and other times that led to profound grief as he is herded into the Warsaw Ghetto along with other Jews.Without Misha's exuberance and curiosity, this book could have been devastatingly sad, but instead half the time I was chuckling over some new scrape he had gotten himself into. Misha witnesses firsthand the cruelty of the Nazis, poignantly illustrated in one scene where Nazi officers bring their girlfriends to the Ghetto to throw food to the prisoners as if they were birds in a park.Spinelli is a masterful writer. This story could be read for its powerful plot lines, for its treatment of families and friendships, or for its rendering of one boy's horrifying experience in a Jewish Ghetto. Much can be gained from either perspective.What stayed with me the most were the descriptions of his adult years - Misha's struggle to fit into society after facing so many horrors in his youth. I found myself going back and rereading multiple passages becuase I couldn't bear to put it down. So very moving. ( )

The horrors of the Warsaw Ghetoo are plumbed in this powerful story about a homeless, orphan boy who survives by stealing food and whose first real experience of love is for a doomed Jewish family. ( )

Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed. 2003. Knopf, Borzoi Books: New York.
Genre: History, War, Holocaust
Themes: History, war, holocaust, Jackboots, gypsies, ghetto, Jews, Poland
Age/Grade appropriate: 12-14 age group/high school
Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Carolyn W. Field Award, Golden Kite Award for Fiction
Censorship Issues: This book has lots of talk about poor people involved in the war. Some parents may reject their child from reading about this kind of topic while they are in middle school. However, by high school the students should be ready for such a topic.
Plot Summary: There is this little boy with no name. He first calls himself Stopthief because he considered himself a gypsy and all he did was steal to survive. When he ran away with his stolen goods, Stopthief, was the only thing he heard. He made friends with this guy named Uri and he takes him under his wings. He tries to keep him out of trouble to keep him from being killed by the Jackboots. Uri changes his name to Misha Pilsudski. Soon Misha follows the Jews and starts to act like them. His best friend ends up being this little girl named Janina. She tries to act like him and starts stealing with him. All the hard times they went through during the war they all tried to stay together but eventually they are spilt up. By the end of the story Misha found his way to United States and the immigration officer changed his name to Jack. With all the names changes and hard times he still remained happy.
Critique: I think this book fits the bill for young adults. I thought this book was very educational on a first hand level. To hear the stories from Misha and what the Jews had to go through was an eye opening experience. It would be good for student to read this book to realize what actually happened during the holocaust. I enjoyed reading this book.
Curriculum Uses: I could definitely see this book in a classroom. I did not have any profanity. The only thing is the abuse and hard times the Jews had to go through. Since this is history parents should know more or less what it is about. The book talks about the hard times with a respect to young adults, nothing too graphic in this book. It is perfect for a classroom. I could see this in a school library or public library. ( )

This book is about the Halocaust. The main character is a little boy who is from the streets and does not know a lot about himself. The little boy starts to see some people that he loves taken away. The Halocaust is such a big historical event. I thought the book was okay. I am not head over heels for it but I think that is because I had to make myself keep reading it. I am not that sure I ever got real interested in it. I probably would not read this in my classroom because it takes so long to take off, but if I did I would read it along with learning about the Halocaust. One good thing is the children could see if from a different point of view other than what is normally read to them about the Halocaust.

Milkweed takes place in Warsaw during WWII, when the Nazis are rounding up Jews, first herding them into a ghetto and finally deprting them to concentration camps.

An orphan who has survived on the streets for as long as he can remember thinks his name is Stopthief, as that is what people call after him when he steals food. When he meets and older boy named Uri, he is enfolded into a group of street children and given a name, Misha, and a Gypsy background.

Misha observes the suffering going on around him, but doesn't understand what is really happening until it is too late to save the people he has come to love. Spinelli has written a beautiful and moving story about the Holocaust.

A must-read. ( )