Author: Jerry SpinelliTitle: Maniac Magee
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Year: -1990
Format: Paperback
Genre: - Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: - Emergent Reader
Interest Level: - Late Elementary, Middle School
Topics: -Newbery, Death, Racism
Summary: Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee is a young boy who had to deal with the horrific death of his parents. After their death, he ran away from home and found himself in a small town plagued by racism. This town was literally divided in half by the main road. The black people lived on one side, and the white people lived on the other. The two groups did not even imagine crossing the main road. Maniac, however, does not understand or believe in the racism that is felt by this town. So, he travels throughout the town to try to change the beliefs of the people who live there.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Year: -1990
Format: Paperback
Genre: - Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: - Emergent Reader
Interest Level: - Late Elementary, Middle School
Topics: -Newbery, Death, Racism
Summary: Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee is a young boy who had to deal with the horrific death of his parents. After their death, he ran away from home and found himself in a small town plagued by racism. This town was literally divided in half by the main road. The black people lived on one side, and the white people lived on the other. The two groups did not even imagine crossing the main road. Maniac, however, does not understand or believe in the racism that is felt by this town. So, he travels throughout the town to try to change the beliefs of the people who live there.
Extension Activities:
Make a line of house shapes and put into each the name of a place where Jeffrey Magee lived. You'll need a good many places. I came up with: his parents, his aunt and uncle, the Beales, the buffalo pen, the baseball room, the McNabs, the Beales again, the Pickwells, the buffalo pen again, backyard,s the buffalo pen again, and the Beales. There may be more. Children could pick one of the dwellings, describe it, and tell what it did to Magee and what he did to it.
Make a line of house shapes and put into each the name of a place where Jeffrey Magee lived. You'll need a good many places. I came up with: his parents, his aunt and uncle, the Beales, the buffalo pen, the baseball room, the McNabs, the Beales again, the Pickwells, the buffalo pen again, backyard,s the buffalo pen again, and the Beales. There may be more. Children could pick one of the dwellings, describe it, and tell what it did to Magee and what he did to it.
