Blogging about Books

Milkweed Review
By: Dax Crowley

Milkweed. That is the name of a novel which I recently read. Milkweed is a book about the Holocaust, and mainly takes place in a ghetto. It's historical fiction, 208 pages long, and it's also written by one of my favorite authors, Jerry Spinelli. Jerry Spinelli wrote many books. Stargirl, Space Station 7th Grade, and one of my favorite books of all time, Loser. But Milkweed isn't like any of those books. It is a tale of surviving the Holocaust, except with the Jerry Spinelli style. I mainly read this book because of an assignment  I had to read a Holocaust book, but I also read it just because it's by Jerry Spinelli.

The book Milkweed was written in a first-person point of view. It tells about the Holocaust in the perspective of a young boy, who doesn't even know his own name. The book begins with him running, after he stole a loaf of bread. The first thing he remembers, is the woman he stole it from yelling, "STOP! THEIF!" This beginning alone tells readers that this is going to be a really interesting story, and it is.

The book's setting changes throughout the whole book. I won't spoil it for you, but I'll just say that the book starts out in a city setting. The characters in the book also change throughout the book. Some of the main characters in the book are Uri, a Jew who helps the boy who can't remember anything, and also gives him the name Misha later on, and Janina, a little girl that slowly develops into a strong main character. Each of these characters also are either friends or family with many minor characters. The characters in the book are well developed, so you can visually picture them in your mind, and also undeveloped a little in a good way, so you can see your own spin on how they look.

The plot of this book is that Misha grows up in a Holocaust time, and goes through, and sees many things. Some of the things he sees he doesn't know why they are happening, and some he gets to understand later. The books eventually goes into a ghetto, where most of the book takes place. In the ghetto, there is a constant demand to survive, in the horrible conditions. He has to steal food to survive, and helps other people. I won't give away any more of the book, because you should read it yourself.

Overall, this book is O.K. It isn't my favorite book of all time or anything, but it was an interesting book to read. I'd recommend it to almost anyone. There is some light swearing in it, but it's only PG swearing. I'd rate this book 8 out of 10 stars. I would read this book again, and you should try it too!