Milkweed

Milkweed

• Genre: Fiction; young adult historical
• Originally Published: 2003
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 510L; grades 6-9
• Structure/Length: 45 chapters; approx. 240 pages; approx. 5 hours, 16 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: An unnamed boy lives in the streets of Warsaw, Poland, during World War II. People call him various names, including “Jew,” “Gypsy,” “Runt,” and “Stopthief.” He steals food for himself and the other orphans he lives with. But most of all, he wants to be a Nazi someday, with tall, shiny boots and an Eagle hat—until the trains come to take away the Jews, when he realizes it’s safer to be nobody at all.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Antisemitism; the Holocaust; Nazi atrocities against Jews; images and descriptions of death; starvation and food insecurity; uses of racial slurs

Jerry Spinelli, Author

• Bio: Born in 1941 in Norristown, PA; attended Gettysburg College and edited the campus literary magazine; worked on his first novel while working for a department store publication; married children’s picture book writer Eileen Spinelli; became a writer of over 30 middle grade and young adult books; 1991 Newbery Award for Maniac Magee; 1998 Newbery Honor for Wringer
• Other Works: Space Station Seventh Grade (1982); Maniac Magee (1990); Wringer (1997); Stargirl (2000); Jake and Lily (2012); The Warden’s Daughter (2017); Dead Wednesday (2021)
• Awards: Carolyn W. Field Award (2003); Golden Kite Award (2004)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Evolving and Ever-Changing Nature of Identity
• The Physical, Emotional, and Moral Costs of Survival
• Hope as Both a Negative and Positive Force

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical and social contexts regarding the effects of WWII on displaced children in Poland that incite Misha’s narrative.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Evolving and Ever-Changing Nature of Identity and The Physical, Emotional, and Moral Costs of Survival.
• Research and share a presentation based on text details that demonstrates an understanding of the traumatic effect of life in the ghetto on individuals.