By Jerry Spinelli (author)
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An extraordinarily powerful and poignant novel about people, about caring and about life itself. Utterly compelling as a great story should be and touches a nerve in more ways than one. Other titles by Jerry Spinelli include Love, Stargirl , Stargirl , and Eggs .
A Message From The Author:
Why did I write this book? (Readers will want to know, my publisher said.) A fair question.
In one of my earliest memories, I am sitting on the floor staring at a picture in a book. The picture shows a heap of bodies. I turn the page this way and that, seeking a proper orientation. I am bewildered. In my short life there is no reference point for what I see.
The events that became known as the Holocaust have touched me ever since. And yet for a long time I hesitated to write of it. Did the world really need another Holocaust book? And even if it did, who was to write it? What credentials did I have? I was neither Jew nor survivor nor survivors relative. All I have was a ticket stub from Schindler’s List.
Then I came to see that I had every right presume. Because I cared. And had I not been telling young writers for years: “Write what you care about?”
And because I am people, and in the end, in the book, that’s what they are too – Misha and Uri and Janina and Uncle Shepsel and Tata. They are more than Jews and Holocausters and orphans. They are people. Like those in this picture.
How could I not write this book?
Jerry Spinelli, 2003
A stunning novel of the Holocaust from Newbery Medalist, Jerry Spinelli. And don't miss the author's highly anticipated new novel, Dead Wednesday!
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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.
‘A spare and beautifully written book...There is not a false note in it’ Guardian
‘This is a remarkable book - a great story that is funny and moving, but at the same time, quite harrowing’ The Bookseller
Jerry Spinelli is a well known American children’s author specializing in novels written for and about early adolescence and winner of the Prestigious American Book Award, the Newbery Medal. In 1977 he married his 'stargirl' wife Eileen Mesi and is the father of 6 children.
Jerry first decided he wanted to become a writer at the age of 16, when his high school football team won a big game. He wrote a poem about this, and the next day the poem was published in the local newspaper. His passion for writing remained although it wasn't until much later that he was first published in book form. Since then his books have been a massive hit in the US but yet to hit the big time here in the UK. So here's your chance to grab a bit of Spinelli - your teenage children will thank you for the introduction.
He's loved by the media as much as he's loved by the reader in the US. Here are just a few of his glowing plaudits: ‘Spinelli poses searching questions about loyalty to one's friends and oneself and leaves readers to form their own answers.’ Publishers Weekly ‘Spinelli takes his readers on a journey where choices between the self and the group must be made, and he is wise enough to show how hard they are, even when sweet.’ Kirkus Reviews ‘A poetic, allegorical tale about the magnificence and rarity of true nonconformity.’ New York Times Book Review
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.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Milkweed and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-12 years old
Milkweed features in the following genres: Recommended Children's eBooks, Recommendations, Featured Books for 11+ readers
Paperback. Not Available.
Milkweed was written by Jerry Spinelli and published by Ember an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Milkweed has 240 pages
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