Maniac Magee

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Title: 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.

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.

Maniac Magee

Author: -Jerry Spinelli

Title: -Maniac Magee

Publisher: -Little, Brown and Company

Year: -1990









Format: -Hardcover Book

Genre: -Realistic Fiction

Reading Level: -Independent Reader

Interest Level: -Late Elementary/ Early Middle School


Topics: -Newbery Award, Racism, Home, Acceptance, Approval.

Summary: - The story is all about a boy named Jeffery Lionel Magee. His parents had been killed by a drunk driving accident and he was left to his Aunt and Uncle of whom he ran away from because of the racially controversial setting they lived in. A year later, he finds himself across the river from where his Aunt and Uncle live, on the "wrong" side (racially). He earns his nickname after a scuffle with a bully (Mars Bars) and is saved by his new and one of his only friends, Amanda. Amanda Beale takes Maniac Magee in and he becomes a part of their family until a few of the East siders make it clear they do not want him there. Maniac does everything in his power to make the family like him, and is happy that he has a home. But his happiness only lasts for so long because he does not want to hurt the Beale's anymore so he runs away to the buffalo pen. After a couple more instances of becoming homeless, and finding a home, and becoming homeless again, Magee ends up happy in the home of the Beale's.

Extension Activities:

-This book is very racially controversial. It is interesting that this kind of unequality can be compared back to nearly seventy years ago. Many of our grandparents or great-grandparents have gone through this kind of racism in the United States. Split up into groups of four or five, have each group present a skit on racism, discrimination, segregation, or judgmental behaviors using the the book.
-Improve writing skills: In the novel, Maniac Magee has amazing baseball, football, rescuing people from bullies, and long distance running skills. What is another super-human skill that he posesses? What will he be able to do with this skill? How will this affect the town? Write three paragraphs.
-It's really interesting to see what each person thinks a character looks like when there are no illustrations to a book. Have each child draw a picture of what they think the main character looked like: Maniac Magee, Amanda Beale, Mars Bars, John McNab, and Earl Grayson.