Maniac Magee

Module 4
February 8-14

Maniac Magee
By Jerry Spinelli

Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee. 1990. Scholastic Inc. ISBN: 0590452037

Synopsis:
Jeffrey Lionel Magee had a home with a mother and father until they died in a trolley crash. Jeffrey went to live with his aunt & uncle, who apparently should get a divorce but would not. He ran away from them and began to run all over. Jeffrey became known as Maniac Magee in the town of Two Mills. Two Mills has a West End and an East End. In the West End is where all the white people live, and in the East End is where all the black people live. There is an invisible line down the middle, and people did not cross it until Maniac Magee. Maniac finds a temporary home with an East End family named the Beales. However, Maniac encounters prejudice because he is a white boy living with a black family. He then chooses to run away so that no one will continue to both the Beales. Maniac ends up living with Grayson, an older man, in a band shell for a while until Grayson dies. Maniac then begins running again and lives with the McNab family. The McNabs are very prejudiced and proud of it. However, Maniac stays to try to help the two youngest boys there. After a while, Maniac begins living at the zoo until Amanda Beale comes to get him and tell him that he is going with her. In the end, Maniac finds his home with the Beale family.

My View of the World:
This is such an interesting book because it tackles to topic of prejudice from the view of a boy. Maniac seems to be so talented and lucky that he deals with jealousy because he is good at what he does, prejudice at his skin color, and anger because he does not understand why others are prejudiced. Maniac seems to be a magnet for a crowd and attention. He seems to run everywhere and what he is really looking for is a home. This is an excellent book. Children will relate to the main character and view the world through his eyes.

Book Reviews:
The story, which explores such complex concepts as home and race relations, is consistently fresh and surprising. Maniac's search for an address to call his own is poignant, while his feats such as untying Cobble's knot and hitting an "inside-the-park home-run but" with a "frogball" are pure tall tale.-Louise Sherman, formerly Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. School Library Journal. February 1, 2002.


In this modern-day tall tale, Spinelli ( Dump Days ; Jason and Marceline ) presents a humorous yet poignant look at the issue of race relations, a rare topic for a work aimed at middle readers. Orphaned as an infant, Jerry Magee is reared by his feuding aunt and uncle until he runs away at age eight. He finds his way to Two Mills, Pa., where the legend of ``Maniac'' Magee begins after he scores major upsets against Brian Denehy, the star high school football player, and Little League tough guy, John McNab. In racially divided Two Mills, the Beales, a black family, take Maniac in, but despite his local fame, community pressure forces him out and he returns to living at the zoo. Park groundskeeper Grayson next cares for the boy, but the old man dies and Maniac moves into the squalid home of the McNabs, who are convinced a race war is imminent. After a showdown with his nemesis, Mars Bar, Maniac bridges the gap between the two sides of town and finally finds a home. Full of snappy street-talk cadences, this off-the-wall yarn will give readers of all colors plenty of food for thought. Publishers Weekly, May 11, 1990.

In My World:
This book would be an excellent way to discuss prejudice and racism. The characters in this book all seem to have their own prejudices without being aware of them. It could be a starting point for asking students what prejudices that they see in the world around them.