Milkweed
Readers rate it 3.7 (32 on Hardcover)
242 pages · Released Sep 13, 2005 · Laurel Leaf
Content report card
Milkweed parent’s guide: what’s inside
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
Milkweed is a powerful Holocaust novel that handles its historical subject matter with sensitivity and age-appropriateness for mature middle and high school readers. The book explores survival, compassion, and identity through the eyes of a young orphan in Warsaw, combining emotional depth with accessible prose. While it addresses the horrors of the Holocaust directly, it does so without graphic depictions, focusing instead on the human experience and moral awakening of its protagonist.
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From the publisher
A stunning novel of the Holocaust from Newbery Medalist, Jerry Spinelli. And don't miss the author's highly anticipated new novel, Dead Wednesday! 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.... A stunning novel of the Holocaust from Newbery Medalist, Jerry Spinelli. And don't miss the author's highly anticipated new novel, Dead Wednesday! 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.
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- A mix driven
- Loveable Characters
- Diverse Characters
- Strong Character Development
- sad
- dark
- reflective
- challenging
- emotional
- funny
- tense
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ISBN 9780440420057 · Laurel Leaf