Milkweed

Milkweed is a young adult historical fiction novel by Jerry Spinelli. Published in 2003, Milkweed won the 2004 Golden Kite Award and 2003 Carolyn W. Field Award in fiction. The novel follows a young, unnamed boy’s life in Warsaw, Poland, during the Holocaust.

Orphaned at a young age, the unnamed protagonist runs wild in the streets of Warsaw, stealing bread from unsuspecting passersby. The boy identifies himself as “Stopthief,” but he remembers almost nothing about his past and his family (9). Stopthief is described as a “runt”(11). Stopthief is taken in by a group of orphans led by an older, redheaded boy named Uri. Uri acts as Stopthief’s guardian. Uri gives the boy a place to sleep, food, and strict rules to survive on the streets. Uri also gives Stopthief a name and a story, and Stopthief is reborn as Misha Pilsudski, a gypsy boy who was separated from his large family by bombs and evil Polish farmers. Misha delightedly accepts his name and story. The boys live in the basement of an abandoned barbershop in relative luxury, with beds, an icebox, and a surplus of food.