Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Winner, 1991 Newbery Award
Quick Summary
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee becomes a legend to the East Side and West Side of Two Mills.
Favorite Quote
Amanda took the torn page from Maniac. To her, it was the broken wing of a bird, a pet out in the rain.
About the Author
Jerry Spinelli is the author of 30 books. He is married to another writer (Eileen Spinelli) and is the father of six grown children. The imaginary town of Two Mills in Maniac Magee is based on his childhood town in Pennsylvania.
My Project
For my project, I wanted to highlight the themes of division, similarity, and race in the town. I was inspired in part by this quote: "East End and West End, black and white would begin only when the alarm clocks rang. For now, before sunrise, there were no divisions, no barriers." I used a piece of aluminum to create the division between the two sides. I hand stamped "Hector Street," the street that divides the town, on the metal and added two painted arrows. The background is gray to reflect the main character who moves between the black and white sides of town. I made the windows identical to show that the two sides had more in common than they realized. Only their wooden shutters are subtly different: white with black polka dots and black with white polka dots.
Final Thoughts
The cover made me think that this would be a book mainly about sports. Yes, Maniac Magee runs fast and plays baseball, but that's not really the main focus. This book kept surprising me with twists and turns (particularly the one involving the old man Grayson); I couldn't figure out where exactly it was headed. Some parts are pure fantasy (the narrator's many legendary feats such as untying an impossibly large knot), but others such as being told to go "back to your own kind" seem not only realistic, but current. A sentence in the beginning describes this book well: "The history of a kid is one part fact, two parts legend, and three parts snowball."
If you read this book, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.