Customer Reviews

Milkweed (Black Apple)

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a story from the Holocaust. Spinelli has been able to do something quite remarkable in this novel. We read the book with our own knowledge of the events of the Nazi invasion yet we see the events through the eyes of a young boy who really does not comprehend what is happening to his country.

The only name he knows to call himself is Stopthief because he survives by stealing. He is a child utterly and totally alone. He is given the name Misha by another boy who befriends and protects him. Misha's family becomes a group of homeless orphan boys scratching out a life on the streets of Warsaw.

Misha is totally innocent, ignorant and naive so he only lives in the present. As we read of the Nazi invasion we know the horrors ahead. Misha, however, sees the "Jackboots" as something wonderful; he perceives their mocking salutes as a mark of respect. Their parade entering the city is a marvel to him though events he witnesses finally lead him to understand that being a Jew is dangerous. He is living with his friends in the the Warsaw ghetto. Behind the walls, his kind heart and small size allow him to sneak out and smuggle food back in for his friends. The reader fears for Misha though he feels no fear for himself.

We ache for the child and adult searching for home and kinship.
Spinelli allows the reader to hear, see and smell the insanity of the Holocaust. This is a book everyone should read. This story is timely, important and compelling.

I don't really read holocaust books because they are just too sad, but I decided to give this one ago because of the great reviews I'd heard.

It's about a young boy who doesn't know his own age and assumes that his name is "Stopthief". You follow him as he tells the story of the Holocaust through his own innocent eyes and you see the changes that he and the people he love go through. The majority of the book is not set in the concentration camps, but in the ghetto and the time before that, as the persecution began.

It is written in a very simple style which gives a voice to Misha (previously "Stopthief") as he realizes and doesn't realize what is happening around him.

The simple style means that horrible events can happen mostly without sentiment but very clearly and matter of factly. Misha himself is not particularly upset by dead bodies being slung onto carts, although the reader might be, but because of Misha's voice and the short chapters your attention is pulled elsewhere before the meaning really has a chance to sink in. I think this really helped show the innocence of the young boy and also make the book a lot easier to read and to take. I wouldn't recommend it to children much under 11 though because some parts, such as a man who particularly likes suffocating kids, are a bit gruesome and nasty for younger readers.

Although I really didn't expect to actually enjoy a book about the Holocaust, Milkweed is completely compelling and is worth reading just for the loving little boy with a changeable name who can't keep still.

It maybe sad in parts but I think it's worth it.

Jerry Spinelli has crafted a stark and horribly vivid portrayal of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Poland during WWII.
Through the eyes of a young vagabond we see a childlike view of what it was like to live through this horrific time.
Misha is a young boy who is orphaned and living on the streets. He is told he is a gypsy and given the name Misha, by his friend and protector Uri.
From this point on Misha progresses in his understanding of all that is going on around him... he comes face to face with "Jackboots", Nazi soldiers... "Flops", turncoat Jews tormenting their own people... and those being persecuted-- Jewish people.
The saddness of this story comes through loud and clear when Misha becomes attached to the Jewish family, the Milgorms. Misha befriends, Jainna a young girl and quickly becomes part of the family and embraces his background as a Jew.
I applaud Spinelli for writing this book. I realize there are many books written for middle school students on the Holocaust, but we must never stop reading about it... if we do we may forget just how terrible it really was. And if we, as tolerant caring people forget the horrors, we could easily slip back into the cruelty and utter stupidity of the Nazi tormentors. We must never become like them.... ever!
This is a mistake from history no one should ever repeat!
So as you read this... remember that all people have value and it's our job to make sure we never allow something like the holocaust to happen again.

Hi, I am in 7th grade, and Milkweed was one of the best books I have ever read! Misha, who is the main character of the book, befriends another boy named Uri, and together they survive in the streets of Warsaw, Poland. Their life would have been fine, but the Holocaust had begun and Misha was forced into a ghetto, where he was crowded together with other orphans, Jews, and gypsies. While in the ghetto many people starved and died. Misha and his friends go through many hardships and injustices, but in the end Misha survives the Holocaust, and at an old age finally finds a true home.
I thought this book was really good, although very sad, and I felt the ending was a little rushed, but all in all I thought that it was a well- written book, and I enjoyed it a great deal. Jerry Spinelli put in enough gruesome, and saddening details about the Holocaust to make you feel sad, but unlike some other Holocaust books they do not make you feel nauseous and queasy. It is definitely the type of book you can't put down, this is probably because of the main character, Misha. Misha is not a very smart boy, and he makes you want to scream in his ear and tell him what to do. As Misha learns about the world around him, you, the reader, also learn about the Holocaust and its cruelties. Because you only learn what Misha learns, you sometimes feel a little held back, but this only makes you want to keep reading even more. Jerry Spinelli also writes the book in an interesting format. He has lots of short, and strange- sized sentences. These, I believe, help give you the real image and feel of the book, although sometimes they do seem a little out of place. Milkweed was a fantastic book, and I recommend it to people of all ages!

As a 7th grade language arts and literature teacher, I read at least fifty young adult novels a year. Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, is the best example in that category that I've read in a very long time. At first, I was skeptical because I viewed it as just another holocaust novel, but I was quickly drawn in by the unique perspective of the narrator and the fresh approach to the subject matter. The main character manages to rise above his circumstances but is believable at the same time as he is scarred for life by the atrocities he witnesses and experiences first hand in the Warsaw ghetto of WWII. Spinelli's ability to insert touches of humor in such a bleak setting are brilliant. I have recommended this book to people of all ages and only wish that it was a suitable read-aloud. It doesn't lend itself to that as there are frequent points where Spinelli's choppy, but appropriate, style is hard to follow as a listener, and one often wants to go back and check the facts. The book deserves a better cover, and I hope that bookstore browsers will pick it up anyway. Once they do, it will be hard to put down.

A boy lost in a world where only bread and candy existed. A boy who knew not even his own name, parents, ethnicity. Nothing. A boy who wanted to become one of those tall, proud, Jackboot-men. A boy who stole to feed the stomachs of orphans and neighboring families. A boy who soon discovers that in Nazi-occupied Warsaw during the Holocaust years, "it's safest of all to be nobody."

What was Misha Pilsudski? Stopthief? Janina Milgrom? Heaven? Newberry Medalist Jerry Spinelli tells the story of a boy who once knew not the meaning of happiness to the death of all his beloved, the last embers of his innocense, all the way to the end of his life. From the very moment he put his foot inside the walls of the ghetto, his life was never going to be the same.

I would highly recommend this book not only because of its sinister chronology and eerily beautiful onlook onto life, but of its historically accurate description of what life was like for a Jew (or at least Nazi-hated person) inside a ghetto during the Holocaust years, particularly Warsaw. The experience of being an orphan during World War II is definitely one of the most desparingly cruel and inhuman of all time.

Milkweed tells the story of an young male orphan and his trials in trying to survive in the horrible days of World War II and the Nazi invasion of Poland. It is dark, but like all of Spinelli's work it is full of the author's generous heart and thus he makes one cry. It is about doing the right thing under tremendous hardship. It is about human weakness and human strength. It is about second and third changes, and its about the miracle of a human heart that stays true - an angel's light in a world too often engulfed in darkness.

He had been called many things - Jew, stopthief, happy, runt, fast, filthy son of Abraham. He lived on the streets and steals food to survive. He believes in bread, mothers, and angels. He wanted to be a Nazi someday , with tall jackboots and an eagle cap - that is, until the day that suddenly made him change his mind. When the trains came to empty the ghetto, he's a boy who realized it is safest of all to be a nobody.

A young, swift orphan arrived on the streets of Warsaw with no recollection of his past - not so much as his name. He began living with another orphan in an abandoned barbershop, and together they stole everything they needed. The other orphan, who went by the name Uri, named the nameless child by the name of Misha Pilsudski. Misha and Uri had a decent life - they were never hungry, they hung out with other orphan folk, and Misha even had a rich friend (Janina) - until the day the jackboots came. The men in "jackboots" were actually Nazis, and they came to raid Warsaw. Soon the town was in shambles and they began to round up all the Jews to send to the ghetto. Misha claimed he was a Gypsy (although he had no idea whatsoever what he was), but went to the ghetto anyway because he thought it looked fun. He visited Janina's family many times while the wall was in the process of being built, because he could just step over it. However, once the wall was finished, Uri stayed out while Misha lived there full time. In the ghetto, the conditions rapidly degraded and soon, everyone was starving. Misha found a two-brick hole in the wall he could fit through, so every night he slipped through this miniature escape route and get food for Janina and her family. This system worked pretty well, and soon Janina would even come with him on his adventures. One night, at a hotel in Warsaw where Misha was trying to steal rations, he saw Uri for the first time in a long time, who worked for the Nazis. Uri warned Misha about the plan to send the Jews to the ovens, so he would have a heads up. Sure enough, the next day the soldiers began loading the Jews onto trains to the ovens. Janina's father warned Misha and Janina to get out and stay out, so the two left and ran towards the countryside. Janina, who was in an unstable mental state after the two years or so in the ghetto, ran away. Misha tried to follow her, but a farmer stopped him. The farmer kept Misha for three years, and at night, they would have to tie him up so he would not run away to the ovens, where he desperately wanted to see his friend. Then the war ended, and Misha came to America, where he married and then divorced. Misha kept a quiet life and did not meet his daughter, Katherine, until she had a child of her own. Katherine left her daughter Wendy's middle name blank for Misha to name. He chose Janina.

Milkweed was an excellent story. It had happiness, but some sad parts too. In addition, it's filled with historical references, even though it was a fictional book.

A few examples of happiness in Milkweed include the time when Misha has to play on the carousel, when Janina gave Misha a piece of his favorite candy, and when Misha saw Uri again. One time, before the jackboots came, a carousel with beautiful painted horses was built in Warsaw. Uri advised Misha to stay away, as "street filth" such as Misha was unwanted at places like that. However, one day, the temptation was just too much for Misha, so after hours (they kept the carousel running all the time) he climbed on and had the time of his life. Another example of happiness included the time when Janina snuck out of the ghetto using the petite hole in the wall and looked all over town for buttermilk creams with hazelnut hearts, Misha's favorite candy. She came back and gave a single piece to him, as that was all she could find, and Misha was delighted to taste that luscious candy after eating ghetto food for so long. The last good example of happiness was when Misha saw Uri in the fancy hotel. Misha ran up to him and asked if it was really Uri, with joy glittering in his eyes. Uri was not as happy as Misha was - he could have gotten in serious trouble if caught talking to him. Misha was even happier later when Uri's tip about the ovens saved his life.

Milkweed had its fair share of sadness, however. The saddest part was when Janina ran towards the ovens and Misha never saw him again. In fact, he wanted to see her so badly that the farmers he stayed with tied him to the barn every night for three years to prevent him from running to find her. Another sad part was when Misha's wife in America, Vivian, divorced him after a few short months because he was going crazy. The last significant sad part of the story was when Misha had to say goodbye to Janina's father before running away from the ghetto and the ovens.

Although Milkweed is a fictional book, it still has many examples of history tied into it. The whole time era was World War II, when the Nazis tried to win power and superiority. The book specifically mentioned the times when the Nazis marched into Poland and the bombing of Warsaw. Another historical reference were the Jewish ghettos, which were not uncommon in Europe at the time. The last major historical reference were the ovens where everyone in the ghetto was sent to die, which were a fixture in death camps at the time.

Milkweed was a really well written book and is perfect for anyone who like to read but does not mind a little grief. It had happiness, but there was some sadness as well, and it even mentioned some major points of history.

-Elizabeth H =]

In the last week I have read the book Milkweed and have found it incredibly touching. The Holocaust was a terrible thing that was a large group of people thinking that they are so much betters then another group. During World War II the Nazis, including Hitler, went on rampage killing thousands of Jews all over, even to Poland. Milkweed is about a young 10-year-old boy living in Poland who want to grow up and become a Jackboot, with shiny black boots, and a sliver eagle on his hat, until the day comes when he realizes that it is better to be a nobody. A little while before that day he turns into Misha Pilsudski with a horse named Greta. He lives in a barn with they boys who only get their food by stealing it. Uri, one of the boys, taught him so many things that he needed to know, like to take care of himself. Misha was a little fast, short kid which got him the names stoptheif, Jew, Gypsy, and a fifthly son of Abraham. Misha didn't know much of anything because he had lived on the street for such a long time. So when he was at a friend's party he stole the cake. He thought the candles were going to burn the cake. This is the same family, the Milgroms, were the family he lived with when all the Jews had to leave, "Heaven" and go to the ghetto. He became extremely good friends with the only child, Janina. Janina copies everything Misha does and sometimes that gets her in to a lot of dangerous, and troublesome situations. When the day comes that the Jews were to leave the ghetto and go to the west Janina does what everyone told her not to do. This is a book that you won't be able to stop reading and will make you feel like you are one of the main characters in the book. It begs to be read aloud!

Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, was an interesting and vivid novel about a young boy with many names, whos only memory lies in a yellow stone on a necklace around his neck. The setting of this book, Warsaw in Poland, really describes the terrible conditions all of the people living as a Jew or Gypsy during the Holocaust. The characters are are very different and special in their very own way. Misha, the main character in the story, is timid at the beginning and later is courageous and bold. Uri, who is his companion, is a very quiet and self-centered character. The last thing that really stood out in this book was the writers style. He writes with a very strange format and it is confusing at first, but later becomes stands out in a good way. Overall, the book potrayed the time o the Holocaust through a young boy perfectly and it was one of the best books I have EVER read.