Sunday, October 2, 2011

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Historical Fiction
Imagine being six years old and living in the Warsaw ghetto in the Second World war. The book Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli offers a new point-of-view on the Second World War. A young orphan boy living on the streets of Warsaw, Poland meets a bunch of street boys and they live a life of stealing. Until there is nothing left to steal. The Nazis have come and herded them all into the walled ghetto, but the boy is small enough to squeeze through the barbed wire surrounding the ghetto to continue stealing from the outside. “I am running. That’s the first thing I remember. Running. I carry something, my arm curled around it, hugging it to my chest. Someone is chasing me."
“Stop! Thief!”
"I run." He meets Janina and keeps her family alive by the food he gets at night. He sees the atrocities of war while living within the barbed fence and what it means to keep living even while many around you are dying. This book is a must-read for anyone!"

--- MM