Maniac Magee

Jeffrey Magee, orphaned at three years old, runs away from his aunt and uncle's house once he hits eleven. And literally runs—he runs for days and finally slows down when he gets to the town of Two Mills, Pennsylvania. He wows the residents of Two Mills with his extreme athletic prowess and talents—he can outrun dogs, bat frogs, and untie the town's hardest knot. The town of Two Mills is split down the middle, with blacks living in East End and whites living in West End. Maniac Magee moves in with a black family on the East side and then a white family on the West, and in between houses, even lives at the town zoo. Like the exploits of Paul Bunyan, tales of Maniac's legendary feats spread through both sides of town, and through his example, began to heal the rift between two races so suspicious of each other, they've never crossed paths.

Spinelli's short chapters and direct prose will startle children into rethinking their attitudes toward anyone different. After your kids read the book, watch the Nickelodeon movie of Maniac Magee, here: http://www.nick.com/turbonick/index.jhtml?extvideoid=92691. Have them compare the book and the movie. Which did they prefer and why? Picking up on the themes of race relations and baseball, pull in Peter Golenbock's Teammates and Vaunda Micheaux Nelson's Mayfield Crossing.

Reviewed by : CH.

Themes : AFRICAN AMERICANS. BASEBALL. NEWBERY MEDAL. ORPHANS.