Jerry Spinelli Essays

In the novel, Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, Misha constantly stays in the “ghetto of the damned,” (Spinelli) for his family. Whether it be to feed the group of lucky orphans, to protect them from the punishment of smuggling, or to simply lift their spirits, Misha sacrifices his freedom for his family. Through Misha’s dialogue and actions, he proves that his family is his tether to the Warsaw Ghetto. Misha Pilsudski, the protagonist living through the Holocaust, and Janina Milgrom, his sister, discover

Conformity is a major theme in Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. A conformist is defined as someone who follows trends and acts like everyone else does. On the other hand, a nonconformist is someone who doesn’t follow trends and is true to themselves. In Stargirl, the main character and narrator, Leo, goes to Mica Area High School in Arizona. The student body is very conformist and holds little to no individuality. A new student named Stargirl transfers to Mica, who is a nonconformist. The struggle between

Your personality says a lot about you. Jerry Spinelli opens the eyes of readers everywhere with his novel, Stargirl. The author demonstrates the important moral, to stay true to yourself, through a fifteen year-old girl named Stargirl. Stargirl , the heroine of the story, was a homeschooled transfer to Mica Area High School, Arizona. Stargirl used her true personality to leave her mark on Mica High forever. Finding someone who can exchange pain with kindness is excruciatingly difficult and nearly

Stargirl, is a young adult novel by Jerry Spinelli. It is told by the first persons point of view, by Leo Borlock in Stargirls school.In this book Stargirl deals with issues of conformity versus individuality, and many problems with society around her. Just like in the "real" world outside, high schoolers usually feel pressures from society to conform, fit in, and avoid ruffling feathers. Sometimes people refer to this as peer pressure, but peer pressure sounds a little bit like isolated moments

In Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, every student Mica high school is all the same: same clothes, same hair, same earrings, same everything. When a new girl comes and upsets the social hierarchy, Leo and Hillari Kimble make it their mission to make Stargirl “normal.” Not even caring that it would hurt her feelings in the process. What Leo did not realize is that you can't fix something that is not broken, and falls in cahoots with Stargirl. Stargirl is willing to change herself for Leo, but he only cares

In Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, the protagonist, Leo Borlock’s experiences cause him to change throughout the novel. In his first experience, Leo meets Stargirl—or at least everyone keeps talking about her when she arrives at school. She’s quirky and eccentric and has everyone wondering who she is. Leo and his friend Kevin agree at first to put her on “Hot Seat”, a show they run together where they interview students from their school. However, the next day, popular girl Hillari Kimble is telling

Destiny English 1301 Section No. 60 Mrs. Etherington December 12, 2014 Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli: Final Discussion Question #9 The story Hansel and Gretel remind Misha about holocaust because of Janina. Hansel and Gretel is about a brother and sister on who was left out in the woods and runs into a house that is supposed to take out of their hunger because its decorated full with candy. Its like an sign of hope, but instead inside they meet an old women who wants to get rid of them. She tell

Being alone is hard. Being alone during one of the most tragic times in history is unimaginable. Everybody needed someone to help each other get by. In the novels Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli and North of Danger by Dale Fife, the theme “You can’t always prepare yourself for what lies ahead” is shown by identity, betrayal, and survival. The authors express the theme by making the narrators young, naive kids who are on their own in cold, European countries during WWII. They have to survive on their own

Misha in Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli A person’s personality comes from two main areas; nature, and nurture. The abstract story of Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli shows the development of the protagonist, Misha’s personality. Milkweed takes place during World War 2 in Warsaw, Poland, and follows Misha’s life like how he travels around to follow the Milgrom family, smuggles food to survive, as well as how he moved on with life after the war. In the novel Milkweed written by Jerry Spinelli, Misha’s character

Jerry Spinelli uses descriptive details, dialogue, actions, and thoughts to help identify the characters in the book in many ways. Let’s start with dialogue: Most likely at the least 45% of this book is filled with dialogue, now I would show you every little detail but I won 't because that would take too long. So I’ll at least give a few or more examples: All dialogue of 1 page: “Oh, some picker bush.” “What were you doing there?” “Hiding” “Hiding? Who from?” “Some kids” “Where?” “Somewhere out

Book Report “Maniac Magee” is a graphic novel written by the prestigious author, Jerry Spinelli, and it was first published in the year 1990. It follows the story of an orphan boy searching for a home in the fictional town of Two Mills Pennsylvania. The book also focuses on themes of racism and homelessness. It has also won many awards, including the John Newbery Medal. Jeffrey “Maniac” Magee was a normal and average boy until the age of 3, when his parents tragically died on a car crash

The novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli shows how being yourself can be good for you, but not always for the people around you. John F. Kennedy’s famous quote, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth,” relates to the novel, since it relates to the theme. Stargirl is a prime example of this quote. She was shunned by the student body for not conforming to the MAHS norms and being forced to act differently to be the same as everyone else to blend in with others. The first example

Noah Dolieslager Period 3 Advanced English Stargirl Thesis In Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl, Stargirl is a homeschooled girl that starts going to a public high school for the first time. At Mica Area High School, all the students are the same. When Stargirl arrives, she is very different compared to the students. After she starts doing weird things, the students start to not like her. She cheers for the other team, sings happy birthday to students during lunch with her ukelele, and does nice things

way. They will confirm when they are in a group or even by themselves. Leo is a shy teen who is in control of ‘Hot Seat’ with his friend Kevin. He gets nervous when he is talked about or even when he is talking. In the novel, Stargirl, author Jerry Spinelli suggests that conformity is an act when a person is not confident about themselves in groups of peers. Many people or students in MAHS do the same ‘things’. They mostly do

Stargirl “Whatever you do, good or bad, people will always have something negative to say about you and that’s life.”- Once said by unknown person. The book Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is about the main characters Stargirl and Leo. Stargirl is a very different person who expresses herself. Meanwhile, Leo is a shy, ordinary person. In the story, Stargirl is altruistic, sincere, and benevolent. In the beginning of the story, Stargirl is a benevolent girl who just came to Mica High. She wears a long

A Stargirl Comes to Earth “She was a home-schooler gone amok.” “She was an alien.” These are just a few of the descriptions given to Jerry Spinelli’s Star Girl. The New York Times bestseller Stargirl tells the tale of a peculiar teenage girl. Spinelli uses his book to share the overall message of nonconformity and finding ones true happiness. The novel is set in Mica, a fictional town in Arizona. Star Girl (Susan) is the main character; not very surprising considering her name is in the title. Susan

The theme of Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is, be yourself. Stargirl changed herself for others even though she wasn’t happy about it. Stargirl was changing herself just so others would want to be her friend, “What do you have to do to get somebody’s attention around here?”(139) My first quote is happy, “She roamed from goal post to goal post. She swirled like a dust devil” (22). This is Stargirl being herself because she wasn’t just sitting in the stands watching the game. She was on the field doing

In one part of the story, Leo stayed up at night thinking of Stargirl because he had a crush on her. “Her voice came through the night, from the light, from the stars.” (Spinelli, page 74) Another piece of evidence reveals that Leo was deeply in love with Stargirl because she was a new soul to him unlike the other girls in school. “She stood at my shoulder and looked down at me, smiling and singing, and I didn't know whether

Imagine being a Gypsy stuck in Poland during the Holocaust and how horrifying it would be. In the book Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, A gypsy boy who does not even know his real name lives on the streets of Warsaw, Poland and smuggles alongside other orphans. He is eventually given the name Misha Pilsudski by a boy who looks out for him, Uri. Misha admires the Jackboots and thinks that they are fighting for him, but he finds out that he is wrong when he gets sent to a ghetto. Misha lives among other

The author Jerry Spinelli. He has written many best seller books. He also wrote Maniac Magee.He dedicated Maniac Magee to Ray and Jerry Lincoln. 2. The title of the book is Maniac Magee. It is important because it explains what the story is about and it tells the reader who the main character is. 3.The main protagonist of the book is Maniac Magee who is introduced in chapter 1. He is a main character. 4.The main antagonist is John McNab who is introduced in chapter 7, and is in a gang that