Milkweed

Milkweed, written by Jerry Spinelli, is a very good book about the Holocaust. This book is not based on a real story, but is entirely fictional.  In this book, the protagonist, a little boy doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know his name, what his parents were like, whether he's a Jew, a gypsy, or even neither! He lives on the streets of Warsaw with some other kids, and steals food for himself, and for the children of the orphanage. Unlike the older teens, (mostly Jews) who help him and live with him, The boy wants to be a Nazi someday.

This book is different from others about this topic. One thing is that in other books I've read, it is either a story of hiding, or of the struggles Jews within the concentration camps face. Also, in this book the boy doesn't know, or understand much of what is happening.

It was a great the book, but the way the book ended while he was still in Poland (he goes to US at the very end) could have been better. It was also kind of annoying for me while reading, when he, (being a kid) did some stupid things that could have gotten himself killed. Still it was an amazing story full of friendship, and the many struggles in life.


My rating: 8 out of 10

Fig Pudding

Fig Pudding is  very casual, nut interesting book written by Ralph Fletcher. The protagonist is Clifford "Cliff" Abernathy, the oldest in a family of eight. Being the oldest, Cliff has to be the "Mr.Perfect" big brother, while the other 5 can do whatever they want. He doesn't particularly enjoy it, but hey, being the oldest has it's advantages too.

The book is a nice, casual story full of funny happenings within this close-knit family. I really liked this book as it provided a more easy-going story, unlike other books I'd been reading recently. It also gave me quite a few laughs :-D. There isn't much of a plot, however, but instead each chapter is almost like a short story of it's own. This is a nice, relaxing read that you should try.

My rating: 7 out of 10