Bibliography
Spinelli, J. (1990). Maniac Magee. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.
Book Summary:
Jeffrey Magee is better known to the kids of Two Mills as the legendary Maniac Magee. Tales of his feats have been greatly exaggerated over time, making him a celebrity on both sides of town. Truthfully, Maniac was an orphan, living on his own on the streets. Living with multiple families on both sides of his racially divided town, Maniac runs back and forth between the two, trying to find a place where he belongs.
My Thoughts:
This has always been one of my favorite books, but once again, reading it as an adult really changed my perspective of it. This time, I was struck by the conditions in which Manic Magee lived, and how he barely survived all by himself on the streets. The way he conquered racism is admirable, and a lesson children and adults can take to heart. I would recommend this book in a heart beat!
Professional Reviews:
*An occasionally long-winded, but always affecting, parable-like story
about racism and ignorance. Jeffrey Magee is twice homeless--once
involuntarily, at age three, when his parents plunge with a high-speed
trolley off a bridge; the second time eight years later, when he
voluntarily leaves the troubled home of his aunt and uncle. Jeffrey's
subsequent yearlong flight generates a host of legends:, his sudden
appearances and astonishing athletic prowess earn him the name "Maniac,"
and his just-as-sudden disappearances ensure his fame. Innocently, he
crosses between two strictly segregated parts of town, the white East
End and the black West End, making friends and enemies in both camps and
managing to soften the lines of segregation; later, he finds a new home
in the West. If this is sometimes a bit like a chalkboard lesson, it
may be because racism is still a volatile subject that is more
comfortably dealt with in parable form. The metaphorical style is a
brave change from the realism of Spinelli's other books, while fans of
his earlier, tongue-in-cheek, streetwise tone will find it also an
integral part of this story--ballast for the mythic, shifting picture of
Maniac's year on the run.
*Maniac Magee is prose on a pogo stick, bounding breathlessly from one outrageously exaggerated comic contretemps to another. The characters are engaging and the dialogue zings with slangy bravado. But when Spinelli gets serious, the plot turns to mush. Maniac is just too sweet and good, even for a legend. His tender relationship with an illiterate old baseball player verges on the embarrassing. And no kid who reads this book is going to believe that racism can be conquered so easily and sentimentally. Still, energy and good- heartedness make this novel — most of the time — an exhilarating read. B+.
Landsberg, M. (2012, August 29).
*Maniac Magee is prose on a pogo stick, bounding breathlessly from one outrageously exaggerated comic contretemps to another. The characters are engaging and the dialogue zings with slangy bravado. But when Spinelli gets serious, the plot turns to mush. Maniac is just too sweet and good, even for a legend. His tender relationship with an illiterate old baseball player verges on the embarrassing. And no kid who reads this book is going to believe that racism can be conquered so easily and sentimentally. Still, energy and good- heartedness make this novel — most of the time — an exhilarating read. B+.
Landsberg, M. (2012, August 29).
Suggested Activities:
This book could be used in a variety of settings, such as a book club or a middle school. A whole unit would be done on the book-analyzing how far the truth had been stretched, the methods Maniac used to teach Grayson to read, and even a knot untying contest. Image link:
http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/files/2012/05/ManiacMagee5.jpg
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