| Maniac Magee | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 715 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2208
Category: Book
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Studio: Little, Brown Young Readers
Brand: INGRAM BOOK & DISTRIBUTOR
Label: Little, Brown Young Readers
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
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
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| Features:
| • | Made with the Best Quality Material with your child in mind. | | • | Top Quality Children's Item. |
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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 Review
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 710 more reviews...
Maniac Magee October 12, 2008
Good selection for 10-14 year olds. Provokes discussions on orphans- prejudism-segregation and homelessness. Keeps the adolescent reader interested.
 Timeless mix of tall-tale and heart September 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been passionately in love with this book since the 4th grade. I think it is one of the best children's books ever written, in the many themes it explores.
Heck, you have to give the author credit for writing such an ordinary story in a style usually reserved for legends. For that's what this becomes, an urban legend, a tall tale, of a boy who is simply an ordinary boy. It's real and touching even as it goes over the line to the roll-your-eyes fantastic.
Even as Maniac Magee impresses the locals with his small-time wonders, he is a very real boy with very real emotions. No character in this book is made flat, and everyone is shown in multiple lights.
And yet it still manages to have simple, poignant riding that is easily understood, even if the themes are a little more complex.
One of the greatest books Spinelli has written or will ever write.
Maniac Magee September 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jeffery Magee is a twelve-year-old kid who's parents died in the famous P&W trolley crash. His aunt and Uncle can't agree on anything, not even Jeffery. When they come to the school choir concert they sit on opposite sides of the bleachers, at the end of the song Jeffery is screaming for them to talk. Then he starts running, away from school, away from his aunt and uncle, away from Holidaysburg. Into Two Mills.
Upon arriving in Two Mills Jeffery gets himself into the furious fight between blacks and whites. When he starts living with a family of blacks, the Beales, he finds himself in for alot of trouble, especially from Mars Bars Thompson. Eventually Jeffery, now Maniac Magee, ralizes the trouble he has caused and runs to East end, the white side of town. There he starts living with the Mcnabs, but soon sees that he's only causing trouble there too. In the end Maniac is living in a buffalo pen at the zoo when Amanda Beale and Mars Bars Thompson convince Maniac to live with them in West end, because they don't care if he's white, he is their friend.
Pg 182:
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"Home."
"Who's?"
"Mine. Yours. Ours. Come on, I'm sleepy"...
He knew that finally, truly, at long last, someone was calling him home.
I think this best examplifies the authors purpose in writing this book by saying that if you keep trying and don't give up you will be acceptted no matter what. Also that no matter how the world looks there is always someone who cares about you.
I think that this book is a great contribution to society. It teaches us that growing up can be hard, but there is always something good waiting for you on the other side. Also, it helps us understand that if we preservere we will always make it.
We will make it through life, good or bad, depending on our choices and I think that this book is a great example of that. overall this is a book that anyone who has questions about growing up should read.
A Classic, Worthy of Recognition August 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked up this book back in 3rd grade, and it was the first book that got me in trouble for reading in class. I couldn't put it down. I must have read it once every six months back in elementary school. The story is great, the characters lovable...but the main draw is the ease to identify with the protagonist.
Every kid wants to be, or has felt like, Maniac Magee. I especially recommend this to kids with divorced or deceased parents. When I was little, this book inspired me, and I just know it will inspire generations to come.
Maniac Magee July 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
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