Summary
In 1991, Jerry Spinelli won the
Newbery Medal for his novel Maniac Magee.
Before winning the Newbery Medal, Spinelli attended Gettysburg College
In the
novel Maniac Magee, everyone in Two
Mills, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Two Mills, is
deeply divided racially. These divisions are reflected in its two sides, the East End and the West End .
The East End consists of African-American
people and the West End consists of the white
people in Two Mills. While looking for a place to call home, Maniac has many
different adventures in both East and West End .
For example, while in West End Maniac hits every pitch thrown by the biggest
twelve-year-old on the little league team, John McNab whom no one as ever hit before. As a result, McNab
becomes so frustrated with Maniac that he pitches a frog to Maniac. Maniac hits
an amazing in the park homerun off the frog ball and the frog hops away
unharmed. Not only does the frog ball hit contribute to the legend of Maniac
Magee, but Maniac also enhances his legend when he goes into the yard of the
meanest old man ever, Mr. Finsterwald, and saves a kid from Mr. Finsterwald. While in East End , Maniac races the toughest kid in East End , wins the races, and untangles the famous Cobble’s
knot, the toughest tangled rope knot in all of Two Mills. While in East End , Maniac lives with the Beale family until a
vandalizer writes “Go home fish belly” on the side of the Beale home with chalk.
After seeing the side of the house, Maniac feels that he is bringing pain to the
Beale family and decides to leave the family.
But because
he has nowhere else to go, Maniac actually ends up living with buffalo in a zoo.
But then an old man, Earl Grayson, finds Maniac and takes him in. With Grayson,
Maniac has a home and a home address, something Maniac has always wanted. Grayson
becomes a friend and father figure to Maniac. While living with one another,
Grayson tells Maniac stories about his time in the minor leagues and Maniac
teaches Grayson to read. However, Grayson dies, leaving Maniac homeless once
again. After Grayson’s heartbreaking death, Maniac ends up living with the
McNabs for little while, but Maniac never considers the McNabs’ house his home.
In the McNab home, Maniac sees the prejudice and ignorance of Mr. McNab and the
effects of Mr. McNab’s prejudice on the two youngest McNab boys. Maniac leaves
the McNab home and ends up back in the buffalo pen at the zoo. However, this
time Amanda Beale comes to the zoo and convinces Maniac come back to the Beale
home with her. Maniac decides to stay with the Beale family and finally has an
address to call home.
Interest
Early
adolescents who are in 4th to 6th grade will enjoy this
book. Maniac Magee has many
adventures and the intrigue of a boy who is known as
a legend will draw in the interest of young adolescents. The intrigue of
a Also, boys will be more interested in reading Maniac Magee than girls because the story is told in third person
and does not go into the emotions that Maniac experiences. In fact, when Grayson
dies, the reader does not know what Maniac is feeling. The narrator simply
tells us that Maniac runs. Also, the external actions that Maniac carries out
and the inclusion of other masculine characters in the story, such as Mars Bars
and John McNab, will draw in young adolescent boys. Young adolescent girls may
like that the majority of the story takes place in two distinct ends of town.
However, the reader must keep track of which end Maniac is in during the story.
Overall, boys will enjoy reading Maniac
Magee more than girls because of the outward actions, lack of emotions, and
masculine characters in the novel.
Developing Mature
Readers
Growing Independent
from Parents
One of the tasks presented in Maniac Magee is growing independent from
one’s parents. The book does not show growing independent from one’s parents in
a positive light. Maniac loses his parents at a young age and becomes homeless as
a result of his parents’ death. Maniac is forced to grow independent from his
parents in the book; it is not a choice he made on his own. Maniac would be a
negative example of the task because he grew independent from his parents too
soon. As a result, Maniac ends up being homeless. In a public school, some
students may be able to relate to Maniac’s situation of homelessness or being
forced to become independent too fast.
Developing
Relationships with People of the Same Age
Another
task the novel addresses is developing relationships with people of the same
age and achieving good relationships with members of
the opposite sex. Maniac develops relationships with the McNab boys,
Amanda Beale, and Mars Bar Thompson throughout the novel. The relationships
between Maniac, the McNab boys, and Mars Bar Thompson did not start out as friendly
relationships. However, as time goes by in the novel, the relationships turn
into more positive relationships, especially between Maniac and Mars Bar. Maniac
is good example of the task because he ends up developing positive
relationships with the other characters. Students will be able to relate to the
task of building relationships because students want to have friends and
relationships with other students in their grade. Also, when students interact
with their peers, they may not develop a positive relationship some peers right
away. In Maniac Magee, Spinelli shows
that relationships with people can change once he or she gets to know the other
person a little more.
Gaining a Sense of
Achievement
Spinelli
also has the task of gaining a sense of achievement in Maniac Magee. Maniac positively displays the task when he gains a
sense of achievement by untangling Cobble’s knot, teaching Grayson how to read,
and finally having a home address. Grayson also gains a sense of achievement
when he learns how to read. Students may be able to relate to Grayson’s sense
of achievement by remembering how they felt when they learned to read. Also,
there will be students in the classroom who struggle with reading. Therefore,
those students who struggle with reading will be able to relate to Grayson’s
feeling sense of achievement when those students make progress in their reading.
Also, some students may relate to Maniac’s achievement of teaching Grayson to
read through their experience of helping their classmates or younger siblings
with a school related topics, like math or reading.
Becoming Aware of and
Living Consistently with His or Her Beliefs and Values
The last
task included in Maniac Magee is
becoming aware of and living consistently with his or her beliefs and values. Maniac
has to decide what he believes about people of different races. In the end,
Maniac is a positive example because he chooses to get along with and get to know
both the people in West End and East End. Students may be able to relate to
making decisions for themselves about people in different situations, like
socio-economic status and race. Spinelli shows that all people, no matter their
race, are important when Grayson asks Maniac questions about the Beale family
and Maniac responds, “They’re just regular people, like us” (Spinelli 88). As
Maniac goes through the process of developing these values, he becomes a role
model for students.
Potential Issues
There are
some potential issues in Maniac Magee.
The most obvious of these is the racial tension between the white citizens of East End and the black citizens of West
End . The racial tension is shown on both ends of Two Mills. The
McNabs are ready for another civil war against the people of East
End , and Maniac is called “fish belly” and “whitey” on the East End . However, the book does not show segregation in
a positive light. The reader feels bad for Maniac when he is called “fish belly,”
and the reader also sees the ignorance of Mr. McNab’s prejudice.
Name
calling and language is another factor in the book that may be an issue. Some
of the characters use negative language to cut down other characters in the
book. However, the novel shows the characters that use harmful language as negative
characters. The reader is upset with the character that is cutting down other characters
and sympathizes with the victim who is being made fun of. Another potential
issue is Maniac running away from his problems rather than dealing with his
problems. For example, when Maniac’s parents die and he has to move in with his aunt and uncle, Maniac decides
to run away from his aunt and uncle. Maniac also runs away when Grayson dies
instead of dealing with Grayson’s death. Maniac’s running all time helps to create
the legend of Maniac Magee in the novel, but also allows Maniac to run away when
life gets tough. When teaching Maniac
Magee, the teacher needs to emphasis to his students that running away from
problems is not the correct way to handle problems. Students in today’s world face
more problems than students in the past. Therefore, students will be able to
relate to having problems in his or her own life similar to Maniac’s problems.
Since students have problems in their lives, they need to be taught how to
properly deal with problems.
Death,
stealing, and homelessness, are also potential issues in the novel. When
Maniac’s parents and Grayson dies, the reader sympathizes for Maniac. Stealing
in the book is only mentioned once. However, the book just glides over the
issue and does not address stealing as bad or good. Parents and teachers will
want to make sure that the students know that stealing is wrong. Throughout the
novel Maniac is homeless, and he longs for a home and home address. Maniac may
be a legend, but the book clearly demonstrates the struggle homelessness.
Recommendation
Even though there are a few
potential issues with the book, there are numerous opportunities for discussion
on these issues. Also, the book shows the majority of these problems in a negative
light. Teaching the novel in class will depend on the make-up and maturity
level of the class. If a teacher feels that not every student is mature enough
to read the novel then he can suggest the novel on an individual basis. Maniac Magee is a good book to help encourage
male students to read. One beneficial aspect of the book is the writing style. The
story is written as a legend. Not many adolescent novels are written as
legends, so using Maniac Magee in a
classroom or for outside reading would expose students to more writing styles
than the typical narrative novel.
Resources for
Teaching or Research
Many valuable
resources are available to help teachers teach Maniac Magee. One excellent website
is readworks.org. Readworks provides various materials such as lesson plans and
ideas for teachers to use in the classroom while teaching the novel. Some of
lessons include lessons about theme, predicting, and analyzing relationships in
the story. Readworks also includes worksheets and assessment ideas for teachers
to use to assess their students’ learning.
Another
excellent website for teaching this novel is scholastic.com. Scholastic is a
great resource to help teachers plan reading lessons or literature focus units.
Scholastic provides information about the book, the author, and gives a list of
similar books students may be interested in reading. Scholastic also provides
vocabulary and writing prompt ideas to use when teaching a novel. Through
scholastic.com teachers can also purchase materials, such as a pre-made
literature focus unit, to help teach the novel.
Three Strategies for
Teaching Reading
One strategy for teaching this
novel is reading groups. In the reading groups, students will read an assigned
section of the book together and stop and discuss what they have read at the
end of the section. Through small reading groups, students will be able to
focus on their reading, hear how their reading should sound, be able to discuss
what they have read, and have support from other students in the reading group.
While students are in reading groups, the teacher will need to walk around to
the different groups, discuss some of the questions with the group, and ask
other questions about the reading.
Another
strategy for teaching this novel is to have the students compare and contrast Maniac Magee with other legends. Students
will look at characteristics of a different legend and compare and contrast
those characteristics with Maniac Magee. Once
students have thought through both stories they will apply their knowledge of
legends by writing their own legend. Students will
then present their legend to the class. Through students’ investigation
of legends with the novel students will be able to work on their writing and
reading skills.
A third
strategy for teaching Maniac Magee is
students responding to journal questions that address certain issues in the
book. For example, students can write a response to Maniac’s quote about the
people in East End being normal people just like
the white people in West End . Journal
questions will help students to comprehend and make personal connections with
the text. Students will also have journal questions that allow the students to respond
to a question the way they think a certain character in the book would respond.
"Maniac 5th
Grade Unit." Readworks.org. N.d.. Web. 15 Apr 2013 .
"Maniac
Magee." Scholastic.com. Scholastic. Web. 15 Apr 2013 .
Spinelli, Jerry. "Jerry Spinelli's Bio." Jerry
Spinelli. Temean Consulting, n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2013.
Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee. New York
