| Booktalk
#1
He's a young boy with nothing
to lose. Not even a name. He's called Stop Thief, runt, fast.
He's just living day to day until he meets Uri. Uri is an orphan
who takes the young boy under his wing and gives him a name and a made
up history. He is now Misha and he steals to feed himself and his
new friends. Life is certainly not easy in Warsaw during the Nazi
occupation. And certainly not if you are a Jew. Misha knows
nothing of politics or war or oppression so he doesn't know to be afraid
of the Jackboots. He has nothing to lose and no way of knowing what
life has to offer beyond his own point of reference.
Booktalk #2
“I am running. This is the first thing I remember. Running . I carry something,
my arm curled around it, hugging it to my chest. Bread, of course. Someone
is chasing me. Stop! Thief! I run. People. Shoulders. Shoes. Stop! Thief!.
(Excerpt from the story’s first two paragraphs on page 1.)
Meet Misha, a young male orphan living on the streets of Nazi-occupied
Warsaw, Poland, who knows nothing of his past but a memory that lies in
a yellow stone on a necklace around his neck. He meets another orphan named
Uri, who gives him the name Misha and teaches him how to live on the streets
as a thief. Misha is very innocent and naïve and he sees the “Jackboots”
(German soldiers) as being something wonderful. He thinks that as the Jackboots
parade through the city that this is a spectacular event; but Uri scolds
him for wanting to befriend the German soldiers. Different horrific actions
displayed by these German soldiers that are witnessed by Misha lead him
to slowly understand that being a Jew is very dangerous. Misha is forced
to live in the Warsaw Ghetto with other orphans, Jews, and Gypsies. People
in the Ghetto are starving and dying and Misha is forced to face the atrocities
of war and to realize the hate of the Germans for innocent people. In the
Ghetto, Misha lives with his friend Janina’s family, who come to think
of him as a son. Can Misha continually escape from the Jackboots? Read
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli to discover how Misha gets his ear shot, discover
how Misha secretly enters homes and steals food, and discovers as Misha
takes risks if he survives the violence of the Holocaust. (Becky
Proctor, jonseyreeves@aol.com,
school librarian at Dorchester Academy, St. George, SC)
“I am running. This is the first thing I remember. Running . I carry something,
my arm curled around it, hugging it to my chest. Bread, of course. Someone
is chasing me. Stop! Thief! I run. People. Shoulders. Shoes. Stop! Thief!.
(Excerpt from the story’s first two paragraphs on page 1.)
Meet Misha, a young male orphan living on the streets of Nazi-occupied
Warsaw, Poland, who knows nothing of his past but a memory that lies in
a yellow stone on a necklace around his neck. He meets another orphan named
Uri, who gives him the name Misha and teaches him how to live on the streets
as a thief. Misha is very innocent and naïve and he sees the “Jackboots”
(German soldiers) as being something wonderful. He thinks that as the Jackboots
parade through the city that this is a spectacular event; but Uri scolds
him for wanting to befriend the German soldiers. Different horrific actions
displayed by these German soldiers that are witnessed by Misha lead him
to slowly understand that being a Jew is very dangerous. Misha is forced
to live in the Warsaw Ghetto with other orphans, Jews, and Gypsies. People
in the Ghetto are starving and dying and Misha is forced to face the atrocities
of war and to realize the hate of the Germans for innocent people. In the
Ghetto, Misha lives with his friend Janina’s family, who come to think
of him as a son. Can Misha continually escape from the Jackboots? Read
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli to discover how Misha gets his ear shot, discover
how Misha secretly enters homes and steals food, and discovers as Misha
takes risks if he survives the violence of the Holocaust. (Becky
Proctor, jonseyreeves@aol.com,
school librarian at Dorchester Academy, St. George, SC) |
