Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli ****

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. “Maniac Magee was born in a dump. They say his stomach was a cereal box and his heart a sofa spring.” Jeffrey Lionel Magee was an orphan at three and ran away from Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan at eleven. [Did I mention: Newberry Award Winner?]  He settled as the only white kid in the East End. “He couldn’t figure why these East Enders called themselves black. He kept looking and looking, and the colors he found were gingersnap and light fudge and dark fudge and acorn and butter rum and cinnamon and burnt orange. But never licorice, which, to him, was real black.” He became a legend, but more importantly, he found a home. A fun and heart-warming read.

As the only white child in the East End, “Maniac loved almost everything about his new life. But everything did not love him back.” Despite his legendary feats, both athletic and otherwise, [He untied Cobble’s Knot], he was taunted, “Fishbelly go home.” He didn’t fare much better in the (white) West End. After living on both sides of the track, Maniac ultimately finds a place that accepts him as he is.

Like Matilda by Roald Dahl, Maniac Magee, features books and literacy. This book has the trifecta of pre-teen fantasies: racism, poverty, and literacy. Read it.

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