Maniac Magee

Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee. New York: Little, Brown Young Readers, 1999.

Jerry Spinelli won the Newbery Medal for Maniac Magee in 1991. The main character of the story is named Maniac Magee, whose real name is Jeffrey Lionel. He received this nickname from the townspeople in Two Mills because of his unique abilities to undo any type of knot, his athletic skills in hitting homeruns against the top pitchers in the neighborhood and for his quick speed in running. The story illustrates Maniac Magee's struggle as a homeless boy to find shelter while he confronts topics such as racism in his town. The audience cannot help but want Maniac Magee to feel content because he is such a caring and smart character.

Resources to Support the Text

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site

This website provides the teacher and students with great comprehension building questions to aid in book discussions, a synopsis of the book, a breakdown of the main characters and their traits, activities that the students can engage in after they have finished reading the book that relate to the text, and additional recommended books that the children might be interested in if they enjoyed reading Maniac Magee.

Jerry Spinelli Interview on Writing Maniac Magee

This is a short video of an interview with Jerry Spinelli. Before reading the text, the students can be introduced to this video so that they can gain some background information about the text that they are about to read. In the video, the author talks about his writing process for the text, his style, the main characters, and his motivations to write the book. This will allow the students to better understand the text that they will be reading, having some prior background knowledge directly from the author.

Key Vocabulary

Orphan, pandemonium, allery, confetti, dumbfounded, repertoire, mourner, ecstatic, feats, replicas

Reading Strategy

After reading the book, the students can complete an exit slip. On the exit slip, the students must write down what they think Maniac Magee's most notable act in the story is. From teaching the old man how to read to untying Cobble's knot to aiding in reducing the gap in racism, the students must write down what they believe his most renowned act in the book was and support there answer with information from the text.

Writing Activity

Allow the students to write about how nicknames play an important part in the book, including the nickname for the main character Jeffrey Lionel. Have them describe how the characters received their nicknames and what they say about them as a person.