Holocaust literature and Milkweed

I first became very interested in reading YA Holocaust literature from a children’s Lit class in college. Other than The Book thief by Markus Zusak I had never really understood what was so powerful about this type of literature. Our teacher assigned The Devils Arithmetic by Jane Yolen for us to read and discuss in class. After completing the book she asked “so…what do you think of the book” we all responded with “We loved it, what a great book”! The quirky smirk on our teacher gave us was priceless especially when she responded so you enjoy reading about the horrific things that took place during the Holocaust? Our enthusiasm was hindered until she discussed with us the great importance historical fiction can have on the YA world. Some historical fiction can be so well written you won’t even notice its fiction. It’s written with such compassion and just enough reality that it helps young readers understand the horrors that went on during that time period. I personally feel that this kind of literature for our youths is a powerful teaching tool that can open up a great conversation for students to ask questions.

With that said I just got done reading a very emotional and greatly written book called Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. Milkweed is about a young boy who doesn’t know who he is, where he came from, or his name. All he knows is that he is quick at taking food from others and never gets caught. He is often called dirty Jew, a gypsy, and stop thief. When Uri, a young boy with red hair takes this boy under his wing the boy learns many things he never knew where possible like where angels live, or what a mother is. Uri gives him a new identity with a story that goes along with him new name. He also gets the pleasure of knowing what it feels like to be clean. It’s not until the bombs start dropping and the Jackboots take full control of Warsaw that the boy and his friends start running into problems. The food is becoming scare, people are dying all around them, and Jews are fighting Jews, worst of all they are now surrounded by walls that are guarded by the Jackboots. The story of the boy who takes on so many identities is a compelling story and keeps the reader engaged until the very end. Milkweed gives significant detail in Warsaw and the struggle that the children when through. Milkweed is a great coming of age book that shows the young boy starting off naive but quickly learning what he must do to help the people that are closet to him. The ending is very compelling and I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to step inside the mind of a young boy with many names during Warsaw.