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Maniac Magee | 
 enlarge | Author: Jerry Spinelli
Brand: INGRAM BOOK & DISTRIBUTOR
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  711 reviews
Sales Rank: 2109
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 180
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: ING0316809063
ISBN: 0316809063
EAN: 9780316809061
ASIN: 0316809063
Publication Date: November 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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Product Description
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary as he accomplishes athletic feats and other extraordinary exploits that awe his contemporaries. Paperback.
Amazon.com
Maniac Magee is a folk story about a boy, a very excitable boy. One that can outrun dogs, hit a home run off the best pitcher in the neighborhood, tie a knot no one can undo. "Kid's gotta be a maniac," is what the folks in Two Mills say. It's also the story of how this boy, Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, confronts racism in a small town, tries to find a home where there is none and attempts to soothe tensions between rival factions on the tough side of town. Presented as a folk tale, it's the stuff of storytelling. "The history of a kid," says Jerry Spinelli, "is one part fact, two parts legend, and three parts snowball." And for this kid, four parts of fun. Maniac Magee won the 1991 Newbery Medal.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 706 more reviews...
Maniac Magee July 28, 2008
As with any book, there are people that LOVE this book and people who hate this book. Teachers are often critized for assigning books because they are on "some list" instead of assigning books students will actually read. I am a teacher. Let me assure you, that at least in my case, I did not choose to assign this book becuase it was on a list or it won an award. In fact I read this book after a student suggested I read it [I have a section where students can recommend books to other]. After reading the book, noticing it's content and genre I started asking around. I found that many 5th and 6th graders liked this book. This is what started our teachers to consider this book as assigned reading - not because it ended up on a list.
Critiques made by others:
1. Confusion
Some students have difficulty undertanding parts of the book. The book is very detailed which has different effects on different students. Some get confused and bored because of the details while others like the details because it helps them understand where Maniac is coming from. I start this book off talking about Tall tales and exaggeration. Then we read the intro which reads like a Tall-tale : "Some say...". This clear some of the confusion.
2. Language
I am VERY cautious of language. I get very frustrated when authors (be it books or screen plays) add in language. I think it takes more craft to allude to language without actually using it. I have read many reviews concerned with the language. I do not feel that this is a concern in this book. The book does mention trash-talking. And although there are some examples (very mild by any standard), the majority was alluded to ("they cursed" or "trash-talking" instead of using the actual words].
3. Racism
I noticed that a few people critized the author for making very racist statements when he described the different colors of black and white people. I think that these people read too much into this. I have friends of many different colors, countries, and cultures. We have had MANY discussions talking about our true colors. We laughed at the terms black and white, because they truly do not describe us.
Also, I know there is concern that the town is racist. Unfortunately, there are still places like this in the U.S. I have found that this has started some really good discussions in the classroom.
 Maniacs are good friends May 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
After reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, I have learned a lot about what it takes to be a good friend. I thought I had good friends before I read it. Friends are supposed to be people you can laugh with, remember forever, and trust enough to ask for a payday loan without any threat of interest. Spinelli produced in Jeffrey Magee a completely different kind of friend.
Maniac, as he came to be known by other characters in the book was homeless, needy, untrusting of most others, independent, and reclusive. He preferred running through town and sleeping with animals at the zoo to staying with his stiff, staunch, and insensitive foster parents. When he does run away, he finds himself in the same town his parents died. He discovers there the racial hate, socio-economic oppression, and disbelief in people he thought he had run away from. But he also discovered that the people there revered him as a legend.
Spinelli wastes no time complicating Magee's life. Soon after he runs away, Maniac is sought after by a neighborhood bully, ousted by racist adults, hunted by arrogant unsupervised white kids, and indebted to the first kind person he meets. Spinelli creates a lovelable boy, with many of the same characteristics as Tom Sawyer, and a lot of the same plights many of his readers recognize from experience. Only one thing makes Magee stand out from all the rest.
Magee is blessed with a shroud of heroism. In his own meandering and misanthropic way, Maniac saves a retired minor league pitcher from his lonliness, restores the legend of a fallen big brother, returns courage to a fearful bully and reaffirms a girls faith in humanity. He also teaches a town to accept differences on both sides of the track...in spite of color differences.
The novel is colored with humor, charm and sincerity. Spinelli seems to be unfolding real events on a neon canvas. So bright and amusing they can't possibly be real, these moments resonate with whispers of reality. Parts of Spinelli's childhood seep from the pages, touching the lives of all readers and embracing the childhood some have yet to leave behind.
Readability is enhanced by short fast paced chapters, a subtle thread of suspense and a genuine curiosity about what Maniac Magee will do next. No matter who reads this book, Magee is sure to run them down leaving their minds stamped with Jerry Spinelli's gifted writing.
Run to this Book! May 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Run to this Book!
The Best of Juvenile Fiction
The story of Maniac Magee is a folk tale for today's kids. Jeffrey
Lionel Magee--known as Maniac Magee--runs away from home. His parents
died while he was only a baby and he had been living with his aunt and
uncle. One day when he couldn't deal with his caretakers any more, he
ran away from home and just kept running. That is where the legend of
Maniac Magee begins.
Maniac is a true folk hero, right up there with John Henry, Davy
Crocket, and Johnny Appleseed. Jerry Spinelli writes at the beginning
of the book, "The history of a kid is one part fact, two parts legend,
and three parts snowball." All through the book, the reader has to
figure out which parts of Maniac's story are fact and which parts are
legend.
The first day Maniac arrives in town, he runs into Amanda on the
street. Amanda pulls a book from the suitcase full of books that she
carries with her at all times and gives it to Maniac. This is the
beginning of Maniac's friendship with Amanda. On that first day in
town, Maniac also beats the high school football team in football and
saves a boy from a group of bullies. Already, Maniac has made quite a
reputation for himself.
Throughout this exciting book, Maniac has to deal with issues that
affect real kids today. The town where Maniac stays is segregated.
Most of the white families live on one side of the train tracks and
most of the black families live on the other side. Maniac makes many
people unhappy when he makes friends that are both black and white.
Also in the story, one of the characters in the story never learned
how to read. As readers, we learn a lot about education and illiteracy
in the United States. There are many connections young readers can
make to their own lives at school.
While the beginning of the book might seem a little confusing, stick
with it! This book really becomes excellent after the first couple
chapters. It takes that long for the reader to get used to Jerry
Spinelli's style of writing. Spinelli writes clearly and mixes in
beautiful and poetic sentences to keep the writing interesting: "The
old man gave himself up willingly to his exhaustion and drifted off
like a lazy, sky-high fly ball."
Once you read this book, you will definitely want to read other books
by Jerry Spinelly.
Maniac about Maniac Magee May 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers 1991
Reading Level: 5.4
194 Pages
Genre: Fiction
Maniac Magee is the story of a young boy whose parents die in a tragic accident. He is left in the care of his argumentative and unpleasant aunt and uncle. He runs away and the book tells about his travels as a homeless boy in search of a home.
Maniac seems to become attached to a town divided in two: the blacks and the whites. Maniac, however, is a young man before his time and cannot understand why the two sides are so opposed to each other. As he journeys back and forth across a line that all others are unwilling to cross, he realizes that they are much more alike than any of them can imagine.
On both sides he finds families that take him in, and show him how compassionate people can be, regardless of their skin color. He also finds people on each side who represent the ugliness that people can often show. There are also individuals who represent all different facets of people in the world. But through it all, Maniac's adventures teach a few lessons incredibly pertinent to today's society.
While the voice of the book is confusing at times, the book is exciting to read and as mentioned before, addresses several issues that are at the front of society today. As an inner city school teacher the issues are particularly real. I read this book as a student and loved it then, and now as a teacher, can even more understand how important it is for students to read this book. I would recommend it for either individual students looking for a good book to read. However, I feel this book is particularly suited for whole class readings, as I feel it lends itself to many class discussions about topics that students will find relevant and most likely have opinions to share.
*Teacher Review of Maniac Magee* May 9, 2008
Title: Maniac Magee
Author: Maniac Magee
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co. Young Readers
Publication Date: 9/1/199
Reading Level: Accelerated Reader Level: 4.9 Appropriate for children ages 9-13.
Number of pages: 184
Genre: Fiction (Young Adult)
Jerry Spinelli's classic book Maniac Magee is still read and enjoyed by thousands of young adults every year. A Newberry Award winner, Spinelli's story of a young orphan named Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee provides its readers with both an exciting and moving plot. Maniac becomes a legend in the town of Two Mills for numerous feats, among them running along train rails, untying an enormous knot and beating the fastest kid in town running backwards. At the same time, the book addresses the important issues of racism, segregation and ignorance. This review will provide potential readers with a brief synopsis of the plot, some negative aspects of the book and the reviewer's opinion of the book as an elementary school teacher.
The plot of Maniac Magee revolves around the story's main character, Jeffrey Lionel Magee. Known simply as "Maniac," Magee appears suddenly in Two Mills, a segregated town divided racially into East and West Ends. Maniac's parents were killed in a trolley accident, and he arrives in Two Mills after running away from his aunt and uncle. Magee first meets Amanda Beale, a young black girl who loves her books so much that she carries them around in a suitcase at all times. Well-developed characters like Amanda are found throughout Spinelli's story, providing readers with a variety of personalities to interact with Maniac. The more time Maniac spends in Two Mills, the more his legend grows. He takes on John McNabb, the town bully, in a baseball game and hits home-run after home-run off of him. He races Mars Bar Thompson, the self-anointed fastest kid in Two Mills, and backpedals the last part of their race to victory. He unties Cobble's Knot, a prolific knot outside of a pizza parlor, earning himself free pizza for a year. As the story progresses, Maniac lives in a variety of locations: first with the African-American Beale family, for a time with racist and white McNabb family and even in the Two Mills Zoo in the buffalo enclosure. Throughout the story the reader is introduced to real-world issue of segregation between the town's East and West Ends. Maniac experiences the ignorance and racism that exist between the town's African-American and white communities that have simmered below the surface for years. Maniac is thrust into the middle of this issue because of his comfort with both groups of people, and the author Spinelli does an excellent job of illustrating to his young audience the danger and outright silliness of such close-minded ideas.
If there is a negative aspect to Spinelli's story, it might be the book's ending. As a caution to potential readers, after following such an engaging plot the book's conclusion is a bit of a letdown. As to avoid being a spoiler, this review will not detail the ending, but will ensure potential readers that the conclusion is short and the book remains thrilling up to this point.
As a fourth grade teacher, I have read this book aloud to my class and they would beg me to continue every time we had to stop. My students and I thoroughly enjoy the great characters and the thrilling adventures that Maniac has throughout the story. Not only is Maniac Magee incredibly fun to read, it also provides its readers with important real-world issues such as racism and close-mindedness. I would highly recommend this book to any student in fourth through eighth grade, but even as an adult I enjoy reading Maniac Magee every time!
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