In this book, the Nazi invasion of Poland is seen through the eyes of a small homeless vagabond of a child, a child who is both too naive to understand properly what is going on around him, yet also more street-smart and much better at surviving the hard life than the adults around him.

I found this book refreshingly unique, intelligently written, and compelling too - in fact, I found it so impossible to put down that I ended up staying up most of the night to finish it. However, it is a very realistically written book, and none of the harshness of war is sugar-coated, so I would not recommend letting young children read it. Also, kids might need to ask a few background questions about World War 2 so that they can understand fully what the story is about, and they're probably going to need the holocaust and the Nazi death camps explained to them as well...and I myself would definitely not enjoy having to explain that to young children, especially not when it comes to the "But WHY would the Nazis do something so horrible like that?" part. Still, let's just hope that if our future generations learn about this sort of stuff, they can stop anything like it from happening again.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys WWII and holocaust books.

This story is about a boy. A boy who has no name, no family, no home. This boy is taken from place to place ripped from new friends and put into the hands of enemies. Put in jail cells one day, then living in the homes of strangers the next. It's always hard to find food, always a struggle to keep warm. He meets new people, and his told who he is countless times. He is called thief, Gypsy, Jew. He was called Misha. He is called one-eared Jack.

This book is all about this boy finding who he is. Bad things may happen, but that doesn't change who you are. This boy finally found who he is. After years and years of hurt and pain, hunger and thirst, friends and enemies, he knows who he is. He is... Poppynoodle.

When I first started reading this book, I was impressed by the writing. The vivid descriptions. The emotions. The strong dialogue. The steady pace. Then when things were getting intense, the pace of the writing sped up like a runaway train hurling downhill. The author crammed a lot into the closing scenes and left me feeling exhausted and cheated. Many loose ends were never tied up. A very disappointing read indeed.

This book deals with a boy who has to deal with the time and events of the Jewish past. The main character (Misha or Stopthief) has to learn what's really happening in the present time and how to survive it. The incidents of the past might confuse him on what was really happening and what's in the world. But luckily he doesn't have to do it on his own. Throughout his adventure he'll get help from his friends Uri and Janina. Maybe all together they can crack the code which is his past.

Reading this book thousands of emotions might come through you and might change throughout the book. Just reading the first couple of pages will make you think and ask questions about the story. And also the first couple of pages will get you through a tough roller coaster which is a story of life and the past.

Warning: lead character may piss you off!!;]

I enjoyed reading this book because it helped me to understand a little better how things were during WWII in Warsaw, Poland. I also enjoy the author and his other writings.

Call him whatever you'd like. Everyone else does.

Stopthief. Jew. Gypsy. Fast. Happy. Runt. Filthy son of Abraham. Misha Pilsudski is the name that Uri, the leader of the street orphans, finally gives him, along with a made-up story about his past and his family history. It's the name that sticks. For a while.

This orphan boy from Warsaw, U.S.S.R., figures if someone calls him a name, it just might mean that it's true. Take "Fast," a name Uri calls him. If it wasn't true about him, how else would he explain how good he is at stealing bread from women walking on the street? Bread which he faithfully shares half with Doctor Korczak's orphans at the group home. He wouldn't be able to outrun the venders, the police, or the Jackboots. That's his name for the Nazi soldiers that can be seen marching around town. Someday, he'd like to be a Jackboot.

Then a Jewish girl named Janina from a poor neighborhood befriends him. With Janina, Misha feels he has a real family, a place he can belong. When families all over the city, Jewish families at first, start getting relocated into the walled-off ghettos, Misha moves in with her. Spinelli's sings the despair of the ghettos with a raw and tragic melody of characters. Outside the ghetto walls they call Heaven. Food is rotten and scarce. New bodies lie covered in the streets each day. And angels are everywhere, if you know how to look.

They call him Stopthief. Catch him if you can.

--- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Call him whatever you'd like. Everyone else does.

Stopthief. Jew. Gypsy. Fast. Happy. Runt. Filthy son of Abraham. Misha Pilsudski is the name that Uri, the leader of the street orphans, finally gives him, along with a made-up story about his past and his family history. It's the name that sticks. For a while.

This orphan boy from Warsaw, U.S.S.R., figures if someone calls him a name, it just might mean that it's true. Take "Fast," a name Uri calls him. If it wasn't true about him, how else would he explain how good he is at stealing bread from women walking on the street? Bread which he faithfully shares half with Doctor Korczak's orphans at the group home. He wouldn't be able to outrun the venders, the police, or the Jackboots. That's his name for the Nazi soldiers that can be seen marching around town. Someday, he'd like to be a Jackboot.

Then a Jewish girl named Janina from a poor neighborhood befriends him. With Janina, Misha feels he has a real family, a place he can belong. When families all over the city, Jewish families at first, start getting relocated into the walled-off ghettos, Misha moves in with her. Spinelli's sings the despair of the ghettos with a raw and tragic melody of characters. Outside the ghetto walls they call Heaven. Food is rotten and scarce. New bodies lie covered in the streets each day. And angels are everywhere, if you know how to look.

They call him Stopthief. Catch him if you can.

Jerry Spinelli does a perfect job portraying the hardships and struggles of the Jewish people during the most unfortunate of times, the Holocaust, in a manner in which younger readers can relate. Appropriate for almost all ages [I wouldn't read it as a bedtime story], this book had me hooked. It entails the struggles of Misha Pilsudski [later Misha Milgrom, and finally Jack Milgrom] through the Nazi invasion of Warszawa [Warsaw] Poland. I recommend anyone looking for a good, quick read to buy this book. I read it for a book report assignment back in 7th, and it was definitly well worth it.

Honestly I'm a huge fan of Jerry Spinelli's and my friend had been trying to get me to read Milkweed for 2 yrs. so I bought the book. I enjoyed it very much to see what it was like for a gypsy in this time period instead of a Jew, but really in my opinion you could tell the ending was rushed and I hated that he made Misha look like a complete crazy person at the end of the book. Even though this was not my favorite book I still highly recommend it.

I had to read it for a history project, but loved it. It took the character of a boy named Misha. He is in a small town in Germany. He has to steal in order to live. He soon meets a boy named Uri. Uri takes care of Misha in the abondaded shops. Soon all the "jews" have to be put in the ghetto. Misha meets a girl there named Janina. Janina and Misha soon escape and go on the train. But Misha had a bad feeling and jumped off. The story the follows the rest of his life in the last two chapters.


Overall, I loved it. I stayed up until 2:00 AM on a school night reading it. It has overt 45 chapters, but only 213 pages. I would reccomend this book everybody who reads.

I could not resist taking a glimpse at Jerry Spinelli's latest. But at last I rented it. It was purely amazing. I could very much picture I was there, Misha with his kind heart doesn't understand, but soon do, I'd give anything to not know, for not knowing makes you braver than you already are. This book made me realizes some important things in today's world that we should pay more respect to, and I am solely glad that I read this book, of course, by Jerry Spinelli.
PS: I think it should have won a Newberry.

By Jerry Spinelli
Published by Knopf
224 pages


Over ten million people were killed in World War Two. Over ten million! Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli tells the story of one boy who survived. It tells of an orphan living in The Warsaw ghetto in Poland. It tells of his hopes, dreams, and goals. It tells of angels, mothers, and oranges. I was pulled into this book. Here's why.

First, it had action. The boy in the story, Misha, must smuggle food past The Nazis at The risk of death. At one point in the story, he even gets shot! This book is full of action that will keep you on the edge of your seat! You won't be able to put the book down!

Second, I could relate to the characters. Misha and The gang of boys he hangs out with were about my age. They seemed to be like me. I could almost feel their sadness in the pages. I felt what they felt and it seemed like I almost saw what they saw.
Speaking of how I could relate to the characters, I'd like to talk about how this book connected to my life. It made me think about what I would do if I were an orphan. What would I do if I had to find food to support myself and others at The risk of dying if I were caught? Or what would happen to me if I were faced with their circumstances?

Third, this book was full of history. The Warsaw ghetto was a real place in Poland. It was used to contain people of The Jewish faith in the nineteen-forties. It was smelly, cheap, and horrible. Many of The details about the war in the book are facts. Reading this book was history coming to life!

Milkweed was great because it held my interest and made me think. It made me think about what happened during World War Two. It made me think about all the suffering The Nazis caused. Also, there was great detail. I could hear and see everything. I could hear the gun shots echoing through the alleys. I could see The Jewish people trudging into the ghetto. I could smell the rotten scent of raw rats being sold in a marketplace. I was almost there!

I would recommend Milkweed to anyone age eleven and up. Any one under eleven might not understand the book's depth. Fans of Number the Stars will like this book. Although it was written for children adults will enjoy Milkweed too. My mother read it and called it a "masterpiece." Gender doesn't matter either. Both boys and girls will like reading this book. It's a book with a little something for everyone!

Did you know that World War Two veterans are dying at a rate of one thousand two hundred a day? All of their memories of the war are being lost. That's why it's important to remember what happened in the worst genocide in history. That's why it's important to listen and learn from those events. That's why you should read Milkweed.

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.

Hi I read milkweed it was very interresting book. It was about
a boy who dose not know what he is.and i do not whant to be mert the bleart.