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    Milkweed
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    Milkweed
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    Milkweed
    Audiobook5 hours

    Milkweed

    Written by Jerry Spinelli

    Narrated by Ron Rifkin

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A stunning novel of the Holocaust from Newbery Medalist, Jerry Spinelli

    He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Filthy son of Abraham.

    He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who steals food for himself, and the other orphans. He's a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels.

    He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi, with tall, shiny jackboots of his own-until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind.

    And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he's a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody.

    Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable-Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II-and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young Holocaust orphan.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 9, 2003
    ISBN9780807218600
    Unavailable
    Milkweed
    Author

    Jerry Spinelli

    Jerry Spinelli received the Newbery Medal for Maniac Magee and a Newbery Honor for Wringer. His other books include Stargirl; Love, Stargirl; Smiles to Go; Loser; Jake and Lily; Hokey Pokey; and The Warden’s Daughter. His novels are recognized for their humor and poignancy, and his characters and situations are often drawn from his real-life experience as a father of six children. Jerry lives with his wife, Eileen, also a writer, in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

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    Reviews for Milkweed

    4/5

    399 ratings42 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It is from the point of view of a gypsy orphan living in Warsaw Poland in 1939. He doesn't know how old he is so someone tells him he is to be 7 years old. Mishka is small for his age or what we think his age is. The story moves from Mishka living on the streets and in abandoned buildings with other orphan boys, then to the ghetto and toward the end he arrives in America where his name is changed by the immigration to Jack. The book is well researched and the content is brutal at times. The ending is especially wonderful.
    • 3/5
      This didn't really stand out for me as a piece of Holocaust literature. It was boring and stagnant. The main character meant little to me. He was devoid of most emotions so everything was presented very flatly and matter-of-fact.
    • 5/5
      He is a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham.
      He is a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw a boy who steals,a boy who wants to be a nazi, and a jackboot. Until the train arrives, and all type of wonderful stuff unfolds! He is a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody.

      We read this book "Milkweed" for school, and English class, at first I thought I would not enjoy it due to it being about World War II, but I actually enjoyed it I am glad I got to embrace Jerry Spinelli's writing, and wonderful book! I hope to read more as the year goes on.

      He was only a boy when he woke up, and realized he did not remember anything from his old life. He was searching, and found friends,enemies, and helpers in Warsaw Poland. I really liked this book because it is back in the past, and reminds us of what we have now, and everything different ranging from now! Uri, the companion he is with gives him an identity to go by to not get caught or punished for doing the things he did. His new name is Misha Pilsudski, he was born a gypsy somewhere in the land of Russia. During this book Misha uncovers important information that could choose the fate of life or death for him, his family, and everyone else that is Jewish.

      My favorite characters were Misha and Janina because they had a great bond together almost like a brother, and sister type bond. They stayed together, and did almost everything together including smuggling. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone and everyone because it is definitely a goodread!
    • 5/5
      A child's perspective of what it was like to grow up as an gypsy orphan during World War II. Creates a new understanding of minority and discrimination while enabling the reader to develop bonds with the characters and see Holocaust victims as real people and real children. A beautiful story of survival.
    • 5/5
      Wow. Great companion to Anne Frank and Number the Stars, this one is told from inside the ghetto.
    • 5/5
      This book really made me feel a ton of emotion. While kids are learning about WWII, I think that this book would be a lot more meaningful as it gives kids an idea of what it felt like to actually be marginal in this time. Facts from a textbook are one thing, but reading a book like this that actually puts one in the shoes of a child fighting to survive at this time, really leaves a more important impression. In my eyes, the point of learning history is to feel it, and to understand the atrocities that happened in the past so they do not repeat themselves in the present. All of the characters in this book were so real, with so much depth. I love that this book portrays the horrible things faced by the jews during WWII through the lens of a child and that it stays true to this.
    • 5/5
      Outstanding. I recommend this to absolutely anyone from 8th grade on.

    • 5/5
      The young boy has no name but accepts what anyone wants to call him. He is small enough and fast enough to steal enough food to eat--until the war comes, Nazis invade Warsaw, and food becomes scarce. He is befriended by other street orphans, and makes friends with a young Jewish girl. When her family is herded to the ghetto, he goes with and uses his skills to bring them food. Stark realism of an awful time. Even the ending, with his new life in America requires him working through his PTSD for years as a street person.
    • 4/5
      Although written as a child's book, the content is unusual for the author. Told from a boy's perspective, it covers the WW2 period, from the standpoint of an oft overlooked demographic from that time, the orphans of Warsaw. Misha was orphaned so young that he doesn't even know his real name, how old he is, or anything when we first meet him. he doesn't know if he's a Jew or a Gypsy, but he thinks because he has a yellow stone around his neck that his father gave him, that he's a Gypsy. His memory of a parent is sketchy at best. He steals to eat & survive. he meets up with Uri, a redheaded Jewish boy who knows he's Jewish, but can pass for German. He's the leader of a group of other orphan boys, & he's the one that gives Misha a name, & teaches him about surviving & friendship.It's a very sad story, fraught with chilling mental images of the horrors of the time, but it's definitely not pretty
    • 5/5
      The book Milkweed is a tear jerking, heart-wrenching, story about a little orphan boy during the Holocaust in Warsaw, Germany. The boy has no memory of where he came from or h=who he is when he runs into a group of teen boys living on the street. He is taken under the wing by Ory, one of the boys who shows him how to survive and teaches him about the world around them. This book shows what was happening during the Holocaust from this little boys eyes and it really captures everything that us happening with such innocence. I would definitely recommend this book to all young adults.
    • 3/5
      Quite enjoyable. Maniac Magee has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and both Stargirls were fun, so I grabbed this one without any idea what it was about. Kind of intense, it turned out. I have to say, the book helped me understand how the Polish ghettos worked, which worked out very well when I saw Schindler's List a little while later.
    • 5/5
      An unnamed, orphan boy lives on the streets of Warsaw, Poland at the beginning of Nazi occupation. Eventually, he ends up becoming part of a "family" of orphaned boys and with a name, Misha. One day, while stealing food, Misha meets a young girl. This chance meeting opens the door to a friendship that becomes one of true family. In the face of the Holocaust, Misha fights for survival and works to help those around him survive the terrible times in which they live.
    • 4/5
      A story taking place in World War 2 in Poland. A young orphan boy living on the streets and the life surrounding him. Soldiers taking away people from the town, and in turn, friends turn out to be not who he originally thinks they were.
    • 4/5
      A young orphan, who doesn’t even know his name, narrates his story of survival that takes place in the Warsaw Ghetto at the onset of Nazi occupation. This Holocaust read is told through the perspective of an eight year-old boy who is trying to make sense of what is happening around him. Through his internal dialogue with himself, interactions other orphan children and the group of Jews who take him in, Spinelli provides a unique child’s outlook on a horrific part of history many fear unsuitable for young children. Consequently, this book is most appropriate for an older audience, 16 and older, who can process and interpret the jarring events that are seen through a child’s eyes. Milkweed can be discussed in high school history and English classrooms addressing topics that cover the Holocaust, the Warsaw Ghetto, seeing the world through a child’s eyes, or the power of one’s identity.
    • 5/5
      Once upon a time, there was a boy with no identity.
      “I’m Uri,” he said. “What’s your name?” I gave him my name. “Stopthief.”

      He was an innocent boy.
      I told him how I met Janina and her family and that everyone rushed into the ghetto, and that was how I knew the ghetto must be a wonderful place.

      “Everybody has an angel hiding inside. When you die, your angel comes out. You can die, but not your angel. Your angel never dies.”


      A boy with his own opinion of the world around him.
      So Himmler—Number Two Boss Jackboot, Master of All Jews Not to Mention Gypsies—was a one-eyed chicken. At that moment, I began losing respect for Jackboots. I no longer wanted to be one.

      A boy who risked everything, even his own life, for his adopted family.
      ”Why are you going to the ovens?” “Because that’s where Janina is,” I said.

      That boy grew to be a man who realized the only thing open for stealing was speech.
      They were free for the taking. No one ever chased me down a road yelling, “Stop! Thief! He stole my word!”

      A man who endured marriage to a woman he did not propose to.
      “Okay, I’ll marry you,” and I thought, Did I ask?

      Whose wife walked out on him.
      “Are you pregnant?” I said. “Good-bye,” she said.

      A man who you and I both contributed to the making-of.
      “But I wasn’t even listening,” you say. “I don’t even remember you.” Don’t feel bad. The important thing was not that you listened, but that I talked. I can see that now. I was born into craziness. When the whole world turned crazy, I was ready for it. That’s how I survived. And when the craziness was over, where did that leave me? On the street corner, that’s where, running my mouth, spilling myself. And I needed you there. You were the bottle I poured myself into.

      Now that man is a grandfather. He has been called a multitude of names.
      Call me thief. Call me stupid. Call me Gypsy. Call me Jew. Call me one-eared Jack. I don’t care. Empty-handed victims once told me who I was. Then Uri told me. Then an armband. Then an immigration officer. And now this little girl in my lap, this little girl whose call silences the tramping Jackboots. Her voice will be the last. I was. Now I am. I am . . . Poppynoodle.

      He is a man of stunning endurance. A human being who thrives under the most inhumane conditions. He is the rat in your sewer, the mosquito hovering above your skin, the crow pecking away at the carcass – he is all that and more. He is disgusting, but he survives whilst others – people like you and I – people who squirm away from eating rat flesh, who submit to their fate, die.

      He is a boy who never really grew up in my eyes. Even now, if you asked me to picture him in my mind, I would see a boy of about twelve – fast, small for his age, walking around whistling – not a full grown man.

      He is a man who survived the Holocaust with barely any psychological damage. Most Jews who have witnessed the Holocaust will have gone berserk with grief, with pain for their family, but he just continued on with his life.

      He is a grandfather who loves his granddaughter very much, who hopes that she will live up to her namesake – his adopted sister, Janina – the girl who smuggled with him, who snuck back into the ghetto even knowing she would be taken to the ovens.

      He is a person you and I should both aspire to become. I’m not saying you should steal, or that you should live in the conditions he lived in. I’m not saying that he is the paragon of everything good combined. He is flawed. He can be frustrating and stupid. But he is real, and he held to his morals even when he was given an easier way out.
    • 3/5
      This one fell short of my expectations. I kept hearing all this hype about it and I was really excited to finally get into it, but as I was reading this book I felt like I was pushing myself to read. I had a hard time relating and caring for the characters, which makes me feel heartless considering the horrific subject this book tackles. I was coasting with a 2 star rating, but then the ending bumped it to a 3 star for me.

      The book is written from the perspective of Uri, a young orphan experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust. It is a unique perspective to see the war through a child’s eyes, especially a child who has been on his own since very young and has had no schooling. However, for some reason I found the perspective annoying at times. I think it had to do with the fragmented sentences in the beginning of the book, which were used for affect. As the book progresses the sentences become more fluid, but I found the writing distracting. As a result, I wasn’t able to relate to Uri and at times I wanted to slap him so he could take the situation he was in more seriously.
    • 3/5
      Eh, this was okay. Nothing special or memorable but it was decent. It got off to a good start but didn't manage to maintain it the whole way through. The characters were not incredibly convincing and I didn't feel like there was much emotion in the book, despite the topic. There were a few very good, interesting and well written scenes and it's a shame the whole book wasn't like that.
    • 5/5
      Centered on the life of a young Jewish orphan in Warsaw, beginning in the summer of 1939, this masterpiece of historical fiction is as powerful and heartbreaking as it is humorous and sweet. The book is about past and about identity, from the eyes of a young boy who begins with neither, and with only his ability to run. As he grows into a youth who is both a hero and a troublemaker, happening onto friends and make-shift families along the way, readers are exposed to a narrative that cannot be put down or turned from. Simply, this is one of those necessary and beautiful books that will always be read and passed on from one reader to another--at least, I certainly hope it will.I admit, my only hesitation here is with the ending, from which I wanted more...or even perhaps less. But then, looking back, the book was so striking that I don't know that any ending could have done the full whole justice. Perhaps, really, I just wanted it to keep going.Strongly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This story is about an orphan boy who lives in Warsaw who steals food for the other orphans and himself. He sees the Nazis' come with their big boots and torture the Jews and Gypsies, which he considers himself both. While he sees these Nazis and their horrible way, he wishes nothing more to be one.This book can be very violent at time but it is only depicting the truth of the Holocaust. If you are a teacher who is trying to introduce this subject to your children, I highly recommend this book.
    • 3/5
      A Jewish boy survives the Holocaust through his friendships.This is a historical fiction novel that doesn’t feel like historical fiction, for better or worse. It is not bogged down by dry details of the Holocaust. This makes it slightly more stimulating, but also less informative. One sees the brutality the Jews were faced with—there is a man who enjoys beating Jews to death, and at several points the children are able to actually shake off hoards of lice—but none too deep to traumatize young readers, and they will all laugh at the ways the main character manages to escape harm time after time. The story is told as simply being the character’s life, and he seems to cope well enough, at the end, when he is depicted as a grown man, he is so traumatized as to be barely functioning. Considering that this seems to happen in the space of mere pages, one wonders just what changed. Though somewhat dull, as it is just is life, harsh though it may be, the book is fast-paced, depicting an entire life in just over 200 pages. It is a decent way to introduce young readers to the Holocaust, but should be used only as a starting point.
    • 5/5
      He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Filthy son of Abraham.He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who steals food for himself, and the other orphans. He's a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels.He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi, with tall, shiny jackboots of his own-until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind.And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he's a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody.Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable-Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II-and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young Holocaust orphan.
    • 5/5
      this is a great book. i would read it again and it is about a boy and a girl that become best friends.
    • 5/5
      This is an awesome book that gives great insight to the Holocaust. It is from the perspective of a young orphaned boy growing up Warsaw, Poland. The story details what it is like for the boy, named Misha on the streets in Warsaw at the start of the war until the end. It was very sad and disheartening to read of the life Misha and others endured during this time period, however it was very eye opening and thought provoking. Jerry Spinelli did an exceptional job with this book.
    • 4/5
      This book is written through the eyes of a young orphaned boy who is unsure of his identity during a very tumultuous time in history. The setting of this story is the very dangerous Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland in 1939 during the Holocaust. He is even unsure of his name. He thinks his name may be “Stoptheif” because he hears someone shout it when he runs off with some stolen bread. He is unsure if he is a Jew, a gypsy and this causes him a lot of uncertainty as he roams the streets. He makes a friend named Uri, who names him as Misha Pilsiudski, who is a gypsy. He makes up a past and has Misha memorize and accept it as the truth because he does not want him to be captured and mistaken for a Jew. He is innocent to the horror and reality that is happening around him during this time. He then meets Janina and her family, who once had money and a house, however they were moved into the ghetto because they were Jewish. He lives off the streets by stealing food and living in a stable with other homeless people. They all hear of a “resettlement” and they are happy to hear this news, however in reality it people being shipped to concentration camps. He winds up following train tracks one day and ends up on a farm where he stays for three years until the war is over. He returns to Warsaw; however it is a different place since the war has ended. He then becomes a street vendor and eventually saves up enough money to buy a ticket to America, where he gets a job and a new identity. His past never leaves him and the past war and the people he left behind are always on his mind. This book definitely has quite a bit of violence, however that is to be expected of a book that takes place during the Holocaust. The book sometimes goes into detail about beating, torturing, hanging, and death that occurred at this time. Although this theme of hatred and violence is a main theme throughout the book I feel as though it does a good job of depicting how difficult mere survival was at this time in our history. This is a very emotional story and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the protagonist because in the beginning he seemed to lack the “street” smarts needed for survival during this time. At times I almost felt like his innocence would have gotten him into even more trouble during this time because he seemed so ignorant to his surrounding and the horror of what the Nazis were doing.
    • 5/5
      This book really got me hooked I loved it
    • 5/5
      Powerful and emotional story of survival during tumultuous times of World War II. Used to teach the Holocaust.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Thanks to mamzel for recommending this incredible story! This is the third book I've read by this author, the first two included Wringer, a Newbery trophy award winner, and Maniac Mcgee, a Newbery medal winner. This is by far the most powerful of those I've read.Set in the historical time frame of Nazi occupation of Poland, Misha is a gypsy orphan who, with a band of waifs, roams the streets of Warsaw stealing food and sleeping wherever he can lay his head. He is a simple, naive boy who is called stupid and silly by Uri, another orphan who looks after Misha.Befriending a young girl named Janina, Misha steals food for her and her family before they are taken to the Warsaw ghetto. Following them into the ghetto via a hole in the wall, Misha foolishly believes he is safe because he is not a Jew, Misha soon learns the horrors that daily grow more and more atrocious.To say this book is powerful, is an understatement. This very realistic portrayal is one that will haunt me for a long time.As I read I was reminded of the phrase "What's in a name?" Spinelli masterfully shows the power of this.Originally thinking he was "Stop Thief", Misha did not know his name until Uri called him Misha. Hearing the phrases of dirty Jew, filthy swine and stinking Zionists, Misha learned that the Nazi's could distance themselves and felt comfortable with ascribing these names to people Misha grew to love. In assuming the last name of Janina's Jewish family, Misha assimilates their values.The author leaves us with a sense of hope as throughout the book Misha struggles with the moniker ascribed to the concept of Angel and God.Using the image of a milkweed whose seeds are beautifully, gently scattered, Spellini shows beauty in the midst of terror.Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed. 2003. Knopf, Borzoi Books: New York.Genre: History, War, Holocaust Themes: History, war, holocaust, Jackboots, gypsies, ghetto, Jews, PolandAge/Grade appropriate: 12-14 age group/high schoolAwards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Carolyn W. Field Award, Golden Kite Award for FictionCensorship 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.