Milkweed review
By Rebecca Plock
Grade 8
When the pernicious acts and visions of power-hungry people develop, victims are given the opportunity to surmount their fears by unleashing the strength they hide within their spirit. In the historical fiction novel, Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, a small boy who wanders the streets of Poland without a memory of his past, finds himself lost in the events of the Holocaust. It’s when he stumbles upon a Jewish family who welcomes him, that he finally feels at home. However, the family is forced to move into the abhorrent Warsaw ghetto. The little boy, struggling to survive, discovers happiness and hope under the pain. Misha, the little boy’s most common name, desperately attempts to harness these emotions and throw them to the indigent others.
John B. Sherrin said, “Happiness is not in our circumstances but in ourselves, it is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.” The Holocaust proves that water, food, and euphoria are the basics needed to survive harsh conditions. However, remembering happiness becomes the biggest challenge. When the Milgrom family moves into the Warsaw Ghetto, Mr. Milgrom pleadsto Misha and his “sister,” Janina, “We must never forget how to be happy” (157). Unaware of the meaning of happy, Mr. Milgrom taps Misha’s chests and says, “Happy is here” (158). Misha considers happy to be the delectable taste of butter creams with hazelnut hearts, the “merry-go-round[‘s] tootling [music]”(63), and the stone angel standing in the cemetery. Angels puzzle Misha, because he has never seen one. Inside each person, Misha decided, lays an angel waiting to break free and fly to heaven. His experience in the ghetto unsheathes happiness’s true meaning: family, friends, and the belief of angels is bliss.
“Janina does not have happy” (158). Glum faces of malcontents line the streets of the ghetto. Misha realizes he can’t make everyone cheerful, but he can try. By sneaking out into the town at night, Misha smuggles food for his family. On a special occasion, when Misha “could not comb a smile onto [Janina’s] face” (161), he goes out in search for her favorite food…a pickled egg. He brings home a hard-boiled egg and a handful of pickle spears. Grateful for the gift, Janina still has no joy. On the day of deportation, Janina sprints toward the trains, and she’s thrown like a piece of cargo through the air. As she flies toward the train, Misha thinks, “She’s happy!” (186). Narrowly escaping deportation, Misha does not realize how he changes this family’s life. Underneath, Misha is an angel in disguise.
Jerry Spinelli’s novel, Milkweed, proves that the human spirit can prevail over the calamitous actions of others. Misha overcomes the Holocaust, because he fights to remain happy, while others give up hope. I picture Misha representing every individual, because everyone will face a disaster. If everyone remains strong, they too can survive and inspire.