Maniac Magee

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!