Book Review

Milkweed: by Jerry Spinelli


Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, is a novel set during the time period of World War II. The main character is a homeless boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw with no recollection of his past. He has no idea what age he is, what his name is, or who his parents ever were. After stealing food from a woman on the street one day he is chased down by an older boy. Once the older boy catches up to him, he congratulates him for being so fast. His name was Uri. Uri ends up being an orphan also. He takes the little homeless boy to his friends who are also homeless. In order to live, they have set up a house like feeling in an abandoned barn. They eat and drink by stealing. They also gave the homeless boy a name of Misha. At first they called him Stupid, but Uri finally stood up for him.
After living with the boys for quite some time, Misha runs off one day to steal food and ends up seeing a girl that catches his eye. Her name is Janina. At the same time this is happening WWII is just beginning. Having no idea what religion he is, Misha ends up not caring about who is going to war.
I have to be honest; this was a very good book up to this point, at least to me. The way I can judge if a book is well written or not, from my perspective, is if I can’t put it down. The more I want to read a book the better it is, and believe me I don’t read too many so this one must have been good.
After the start of the war, food becomes harder and harder to get because many of the Jews are being taken away. It also becomes harder because there are fewer people in town so store owners are able to watch their stores much easier. After seeing Janina and her family being taken away by Nazi’s, he goes with them. He ends up living in the ghetto with her family.
After finding out about a hole under a fence Misha ends up sneaking out of the ghetto every night to come back the next morning with food for Janina and her family.
As you can see I really enjoyed this book and if you want to find out what happens to everyone in the ghetto you better read Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli.