# data[].attributes.body
When I saw a copy on ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in a bookstore window, I went in and grabbed it and ripped it to shreds, and Vivian had to pay for it.

I find this paragraph interesting because it shows how the war affected Misha’s life. Sure, he might have done that as a child, but Hansel and Gretel is a story that has ovens in it, and Misha lost Janina to the “ovens”. I think that this changed Misha. The war, his old way of life (thieving), and losing Janina all caused him to be not the nicest painting in the studio.

# data[].attributes.body
The Jackboot flung me against the wall. I saw his hand go to the holster. I saw the gun come out and point between my eyes. “Die, piglet!” The voice. I looked up. The red hair. The face. “Uri!” I cried, and the gun went off.

This was important to me because it shows that friends can turn on you. I didn’t like uri after he started to leave and tell Misha not to say anything about it. It was kind of creepy and very suspicious. After that, Misha saw Uri in a Jackboot hotel. Uri then told Misha to run, but then he shot him. I think Uri shot Misha because he told him to run and he didn’t.

# data[].attributes.body
Z

# data[].attributes.body
Summer was flies. I thought of them as little birds. I remembered real birds. I remembered them singing as I lay in tall grass that smelled like carrots. Except for cows, birds did not come to the ghetto. There was no bread for them to eat, no seed. The crows that came did not sing. They squawked at each other . They seemed to say, Over here! I found one!  Or, Stay away! This is mine!. There was always plenty for them to eat. They ate people. Crows and flies.

I can tell that Misha has a lot of imagination. They way he thinks what the birds are saying is pretty cool. (I’m not saying that I can’t do it) For a eight (estimated) year old he has a big big big imagination.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the Jackboots was holding something. I was pretty sure it was a gun or weapon. I wondered: Why aren’t we running? And then I saw a movement- Janina was walk-in towards them. I called out, “Janina! No!”
Still smiling, the Jackboot raised the weapon. He held it up to his eye, aiming at her. “No!”  I charged into the Jackboot. He didn’t budge. He reached down with his free hand and tossed me aside. He aimed again through the weapon at Janina. I heard a click. Enos called, “Misha stop. It’s a camera. It takes pictures.”  I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I backed off. The man with the camera aimed and clicked again. Beside me, Janina was doing a dance in the dust and smiling at the camera man and saying, “Do it again!...Again!” The couples were no longer smiling, they were laughing out loud. The ladies were clinging to their men’s arm to keep from falling over with laughter. Then one of the ladies pinched her nose, and the other pinched her nose , and they laughed louder and the camera man took more pictures, the faster Janina dances and laughed. The dust she kicked up fell on their shoes.

I think that this passage is very important because Misha doesn’t know what are some objects. I would ask someone what is that thing before charging at an ugly Jackboot. I think that Misha will be learning and remembering what some objects are.

# data[].attributes.body
All the Jackboots were telling the people how bad they smelled. I was shocked I thought I was the only one who smelled bad. I sniffed and I began to smell it my self. I was aware of tiny yips and whimpers erupting around me. I knew what the smell was, but despite what the Jackboots said, there were really no pigs, and therefore no pig flop in the courtyard. And then I felt down under my stomach the urge to go, and I understood what was happening. We had been standing there for a very long time and people were having to go and there was no place to go but where we were standing. And so people just relieved themselves where they were, and I heard the sad shudders as it ran down their legs and into the snow and when I couldn't hold mine any longer I did the same. And even then I remained at such splendid attention I was tempted to call out to the Jackboots, hey, look at me!

# data[].attributes.body
I’m looking. She thinks she is standing on her head, but the toes of her pink sneakers never leave the floor. And I am once again reminded of the girl whose name she carries.
Janina.

This part of the book was meaningful to me because Misha’s granddaughter not only carries the name of Misha’s “sister”, but acts like her too. I think this is important because Misha wanted to find Janina, but he never did. Now he has someone who is like her to carry on her memory.

# data[].attributes.body
pJanina held her fish chunk up to the lightbulb. The skin on one side was silvery. She turned the chunk over and over, studying it. Then she licked it as if it was a taffy, each side of it. Finally, she bit little piece off with her front teeth. As she chewed, she closed her eyes and smiled dreamily. It took her a long time to finish it. There were only chewing sounds as everyone ate their chunks of pickled herring. When the last chunk was gone, Janina pointed at me. She looked angry. "You didn't eat." I was starting to explain that I had a chunk before, when the sounds of a machine gun peppered the night. Uncle Shepsel screamed at the ceiling.

This passage made me uncomfortable because of how strange it is. Normally in this day and age, we don't have to go hunting for fish chunks just to feed our family. But life in the ghetto, when you're a jew, they do.

# data[].attributes.body
“‘It’s a squirrel. They will. They’re hungry.’ ‘So am I’ said Uncle Shepsel, and snatched the rat from her hand. Janina grabbed for it, and now they both had i, Janina pulling on the tiny front legs, Uncle Shepsel on the back. They grunted and scowled at each other. The rat came apart in the middle. Janina staggered backward onto her rear end. By the time she got up, Uncle Shepsel was munching on his half. She tried to reach it, but he was too tall. He kept swatting her away with his free hand as he finished off his meal.”

See, in my opinion, this is a perfect example of how the Jackboots starving the Jews (and putting the Jews in a situation like this in the first place) is effecting the families. Look at how desperate both Janina and Uncle Shepsel to claim the cooked rat (desire it being for completely different reasons). It’s clear that hunger is taking it’s toll on people...

# data[].attributes.body
“....‘I don’t believe in them.’ ‘Where do you think you come from?’ said Enos one night under the rug. “An elephant?’ ‘Who do you think are all those ladies holding children’s hands?’ said Olek. ‘Fakes,’ said Ferdi, whose answers were never long. He blew more smoke than words...‘Orphans have mothers too, dummy,’ said  Enos. ‘They’re dead, that’s all.’ ‘Real mothers don’t die,’ said Ferdi.”

The reason why I had decided to choose something like this is because of what Ferdi said at the end: “Real mothers don’t die”. Now, of course, that statement isn’t true. After all, it’s normally not the mothers fault if she dies (from sickness, age, etc.). Though, especially with the lingering silence afterwards, I can see why they’d believe in something like that. I mean, Stopthief doesn’t even remember his real parents, let alone his mother!

# data[].attributes.body
“...I saw a boy. At least I thought it was a boy, from his size. He was lying on the sidewalk. I wondered how he could sleep with all the noise and people.”

Now, I’m sure when we all read this part, we already knew what happened to this boy and all the other boys that followed. I mean, I certainly did. Though, at the time, Stopthief didn’t, so imagine how he must’ve felt when Uri said “Nothing can warm him; He’s dead.” Definitely not happy (at least I hope not).

# data[].attributes.body
A man came out of a side door. He was in his stocking feet and held a coat about himself. At first no one saw him. He said, “Hey! What are you doing?”
The men with the torches and paintbrushes turned to him. They were glad to see him. They came to him. They took his coat from him. One of them held his arms from behind while another painted his face with the yellow paint that had made the star. The painter took great care to paint all of the man’s

beard. Then they took his clothes off. The man kicked and screamed. Someone put a torch near his face and he was still. In the torchlight, his eyes were fiery like the window of the bakery.
The painters painted the rest of him then, white and yellow from head to toe. They backed away and held the torches, the better to see him. The painted man looked like a very sad clown. The men with the torches and brushes howled with laughter. One of the painters reached out and paddled the rump of the painted man, setting off a new round of howls. Then someone snapped, “Go! Go!” and the painted man slumped back into his house.
This made me pretty sad on how Jews were treated. They can't change there religion so why be mad at him?

# data[].attributes.body
There were grown-ups around the table and three other little girls in bright dresses, who were giggling and staring at me. And then one of the women began to plant white candles into the cake. One candle went right through the red house. And then a man was leaning over with a lit match, and he put the match to each candle until all the candles were burning. I was shocked. They were going to burn down the cake! There wasn’t a moment to spare. I blew out the fires, grabbed the cake, and ran from the house. Snow flurries swirled in my face.
When I told Uri what had happened, he laughed so hard he fell into his bed. I liked it when Uri laughed—his red hair seemed to brighten. He told me then about birthday cakes and candles, and I laughed also. This made me laugh because of how he thought they were about to burn the cake down. Poor Janina.

# data[].attributes.body
“There was a man in a long black coat on his hands and knees. He had a long gray beard. Beside him was a bucket of water. He was dipping his beard into the water and scrubbing the sidewalk with the beard. A pair of  Jackboot soldiers stood above him, laughing.” This paragraph shows how cruel the Jackboots were to some people. Especially since some other people from that same town were laughing at the poor old man. And the fact that Misha found it interesting and sort of funny is horrible. This just goes back to the main plot of the story (so far) and how the main character doesn’t/didn’t have a real name and doesn’t remember most of his life. He gets called stupid a lot a so on. Partly because he wants to be a Jackboot when he grows older. He doesn’t realize what the truth is behind why the Jackboots are being mean to these poor old men...

# data[].attributes.body
“This is what the enemy does. He flies overhead in his airplane. If he sees you in the street below, he reaches out and drops a bomb on your head.” In these sentences (in the main character’s mind) they describe how the bombings happen in their city. Someone flies over head and drops destructive bombs all over the people below. (Sounds terrifying.) This stood out to me because (1.) Italics (2.) because of the description. You could say it simple and easy: Someone flies over head and drops destructive bombs all over the people below. Or you could say it in a more descriptive, overall better way:“This is what the enemy does. He flies overhead in his airplane. If he sees you in the street below, he reaches out and drops a bomb on your head.” It’s almost as if you are describing the scene of the pilot as you sit next to him.

# data[].attributes.body
“The unlaugher kicked ground straw at a boy who hadn’t spoken. The boy had  only one arm. “That’s a Jew.” He pointed to himself.  “This is a Jew.” He pointed to the others. “That’s a Jew. That’s a Jew. That’s a Jew.” He pointed to the horse. “That’s a Jew.” He fell to his knees and scrabbled in the straw near the horse flop. He found something. He held it out to me. It was a small brown insect. “This is a Jew. Look. Look!” He startled me. “A Jew is an animal. A Jew is a bug. A Jew is less than a bug.” He threw the insect into the flop. “A Jew is that.”  In this section of the book the Jews who hide out in a horse stable are trying to show the main character (‘Misha Pilsudski’) what being a Jew means. For some reason (the reason why this part stood out to me) they all clapped and cheered after this one armed kid said this. It confused me how they were proud to be horse flop. I mean, I would understand this statement better if they were trying to show how Jackboots/ Nazis thought of Jews. Yet, nothing ever stated that this is what they meant. But, somehow, the main character didn’t understand anything because he isn’t smart. (Oh well.)