Maniac Magee
Ratings71
Average rating3.9
I don't care much for protagonists who are perfect at everything and develop a savior complex (besides Harry Potter) - as in, I didn't much care for Maniac Magee. However, I did like the Beale family and the Pickwell family quite a bit; loving and easy-going families that can welcome in any strangers and make them feel like part of the family are a bit of a weakness of mine.
I didn't necessarily enjoy this book as an adult. Considered giving it 2 stars. That said, I probably would have enjoyed it quite a bit at 10 or 11.
I remember this book being wildly popular when I was in grade school, but for some reason the cover turned me off and I never read it. Surprising, considering it won the Newbery and that was how I picked out many of the books I read around that time.
Maniac Magee is a brilliant book. I wish this book had been required reading when I was in sixth grade; I'd love to know what my sixth grade self thought of it. There are plenty of teaching points here, but it is also just a plain good read, which is why this is a classroom classic. I was a bit wary of Jerry Spinelli after I read Fourth Grade Rats with my student teaching class last year. They loved it, but I did not. This book made me a believer again. Read this book!
I listened to Maniac Magee on CD. I know I have read this book in the past, but I did not remember much about it; I read it after Stargirl and found Maniac Magee less compelling.
I liked it a lot more this time. Maniac is an orphan with superhero-like athletic abilities. He settles in with an aunt and uncle but soon wanders away to find a new home with a black family. At the time of this story, a white boy living with a black family is a difficult situation. Maniac becomes the target of both blacks and whites who find the situation intolerable. Finally, Maniac gives into pressure and wanders away from the black family to live with an old black man. Maniac teaches the old man to read and the man helps Maniac hone his baseball skills. Maniac is finally able to find a way to come home to live with the black family who had so warmly received him.
