Milkweed

by Jerry Spinelli | Grades 5-8 | Lexile 510 | Reading Level 3.6

Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable-Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II-and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young Holocaust orphan.

A homeless young boy joins an unruly gang of Jewish street kids. The horrors of the Holocaust don't become evident until Misha and his friends are rounded up and confined to the Warsaw ghetto.