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Maniac Magee (Harper Trophy)
Maniac Magee (Harper Trophy) | Jerry Spinelli
31 posts | 95 read | 8 to read
When Jeffrey Lionel Magee wanders into Two Mills, Pennsylvania, a legend is in the making. Before too long, stories begin to circulate about how fast and how far he can run and about feats so incredible they earn him the nickname "Maniac." 1991 Newbery Medal; "Boston Globe/Horn Book" Award for Fiction; ALA Notable Children's Book; ALA Best Books for Young Adults; "Booklist" 1990 Children's Editors' Choices.
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review
EmilieGR
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Mehso-so

This book shies away from engaging in any real discussion about race, but plays with themes of racism and segregation throughout. I love the fairytale quality of Maniac‘s story, and some of the characters are lovely, but I just couldn‘t invest fully.

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ahoffkosik
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This week, Jordan from Completely Booked is on my book podcast… and I‘m so proud and excited to drop this particular episode on my birthday! 🥳 On it, we take a deep dive into Jerry Spinelli‘s MANIAC MAGEE, particularly what it‘s saying about race and racism and how those messages have evolved in the three decades since the Newbery medal winner was published. 👟 listen at the link in my bio!

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Kayla_C
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Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is a HF & a John Newberry award winning N. It is about a boy who became an orphan at a young age after his parents died in a crash. This book talks about his journey as he grows up with life without parents. This book would work great as a LC book. ESOL strategy 6, continually monitor students‘ comprehension. UDL Principle 3.2 Highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships.

Kayla_C
This book has won The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/maniac-magee-e.... This resource provides us with an activity that we could do with our students after reading the book. #UCFLAE3414SP20
(edited) 5y
DrSpalding I agree this would make an excellent literature circle selection. When did this story take place? You need to revise your genre. Scholastic is an excellent resource! 5y
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amber_ldsmom
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Pickpick

Day 3: #DiamondintheRough #MarchMadness
Love, love, love this story!

Geenie I think I read that! Cool 😎💖 5y
Eggs ❤️Spinelli ❤️ 5y
Linsy Beautiful ring! 💍 5y
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hes7
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Pickpick

#MiddleGradeMarch

1. I, Juan de Pareja ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
2. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. Maniac Magee (#bbrc #newclassic) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4. The Egypt Game ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3 for #MarchUnshelfing ✔️

LibrarianRyan ⭐️👍 5y
Clwojick Way to go! 5y
sblbooks Good Job! 5y
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megnews Doing great! 5y
Mtroiano I loved The Egypt Game when I was a kid! May be time for a reread! 5y
Sace I really enjoyed Juan de Pareja. 5y
Sace But I should add it made me cringe. Ultimately he's a slave. 5y
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peytonfleming
Pickpick

Review: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, 1990, is a realistic fiction chapter book about a young boy who grew up in a broken home and became a legend.
Blurb: This is a great example of realistic fiction because many students have problems with parents and guardians splitting up and fighting and can relate to the main character in that sense. As well as talking about racism and inequality.
Quote: “Talk! Talk, will ya! Talk! Talk! Talk!“

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easch

“Inside his house, a kid gets one name, but on the other side of the door, it‘s whatever the rest of the world wants to call him.”

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easch

This book would be good for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. I think it is important to tell stories that can be hard to hear because for some children that is their reality‘s.

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easch
Pickpick

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, 1990. Right away the story gave me chills. The little boys parents died in a crash and he was an orphan. The book talks about how he had two of everything in the house. This can relate to children whose parents are divorced and they have 2 of everything. The book talks about him growing up in the world without parents and having to navigate that.

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elisaschwass

“He knee finally, truly, at long last, someone was calling him home.”

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elisaschwass

This book is perfect for young kids who go through the hardship of not having parents. It just shows that you can do anything you set your mind to, and that they are loved.

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elisaschwass
Pickpick

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli was written in 1990. This book is about a boy who became an orphan at a young age after his parents died in a crash. This book talks about his journey as he grows up with life without parents. He is a fast runner and the kids knew all about him. In the end, he finally had a place to call home. This is a great book for young kids to read and to relate to.

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KristenScala
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Pickpick

Maniac Magee written by Jerry Spinelli is a Newbery award winner and one of my favorite novels I read in elementary school. This RF book is about Jeffery Lionel Magee or “Maniac Magee” who finds himself homeless when his parents die and he ends up living with his aunt and uncle who are on the brink of divorce. Magee runs away from his aunt and uncle‘s home and quickly leans about racial segregation, friendship, death, courage, and so much more.

KristenScala #ucflae3414f19
This novel could best be used in RA, LC, or IR setting. UDL strategy 2.1 clarification on vocabulary and EL strategy 45 so that students can compare and contrast vocabulary words like prejudice and discrimination.
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/maniac-magee-d...
Great discussion guide for before reading the book.
5y
DrSpalding You are correct! With this award winner you could use it in a variety of ways and it complements social studies instruction. I‘m not sure about comparing and contrasting vocabulary words but certainly teaching them the discipline specific vocabulary is something they would need to know in order to comprehend attacks like this. 5y
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Tracey3
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Pickpick

Third summer reading book for my new 5th grade group. Wow! How is it that I have never read this book before. What an amazing story!!! I couldn‘t put the book down. I laughed. I cried. I got angry. Now? I‘m sad the my journey with these characters has come to an end. Does anyone else miss the characters when you finish a book??

LibrarianRyan I did in this book so much. I didn‘t read this til I was an adult as well and was sad I missed it in childhood. 5y
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Sharpeipup
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Change of scenery & caffeine #24in48 #readathon #bookncoffee

Susanita That looks yummy!
5y
gradcat I agree with @Susanita Yum, yum! 😋 5y
Sharpeipup @Susanita @gradcat it‘s a blended latte with almond milk & honey...SO YUMMY! 5y
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Sharpeipup
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#booknbreakfast
Starting the day off dining al fresco.

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Chrissyreadit
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Maniac Magee seemed to be #borntorun! #marchintothe70s

Cinfhen Jerry Spinelli #bookmemories (edited) 6y
DocBrown I remember reading this to my oldest MANY years ago. 6y
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TabbyGibby
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Never trust a vowel!

#QuotsyMar19 #grammar

@TK-421

gradcat Love this! 😊 6y
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tonyahoswalt
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1. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, Sweet Valley High books, Babysitter Club books
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. It'll Come Back by Red Sovine. My dad loved that song.
4. Not sure who has already done it.
#TuesdayTidbits @JenlovesJT47

JenlovesJT47 💚💚💚 SVH!!! 🙌🏻 6y
tonyahoswalt @JenlovesJT47 I'm loving your SVH reviews! But I have to admit, I was a Liz fan. 🤣 6y
JenlovesJT47 Lol that‘s ok, I love to hate Liz! 😅 I think I always preferred Jess more because she‘s more adventurous, AKA the opposite of me lol. Although she is a tad psychotic sometimes lol 🤷🏻‍♀️ 6y
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tonyahoswalt @JenlovesJT47 lol, yeah, just a little. Have you already reviewed the one where Todd had gone to a different school, and the two schools were competing against each other in a field day type thing. Todd and and Liz sit together I think, but there is friction and they may have already broken up, or be about to break up. Then in a big tug-of-war, Todd finally cheers for Sweet Valley! I don't know why, but that was one of my fav moments in the series 6y
JenlovesJT47 I know exactly what you‘re talking about!! I read that one late last year 6y
JenlovesJT47 Haha I‘m such a nerd 🤓 6y
tonyahoswalt @JenlovesJT47 Clearly I am too! 😁 6y
24 likes7 comments
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tonyahoswalt
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#TuesdayTidbits
1. Maniac Magee. 6th grade teacher read it to class, she cried, we cried, it stuck with me.
2. I'm not big into politics, but maybe JFK
3. Lying and being ignored
4. @MinDea
@JenlovesJT47

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Captivatedbybooks
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Since i read this book as a kid i never realized it we share a love for TastyKakes!

tpixie So does Stephanie Plum a Jersey Girl 7y
Captivatedbybooks @tpixie it mentioned her too. Ive never read any of those books. 7y
tpixie They are fun slapstick - esp the first 6-7. I‘ve gotten distracted and haven‘t kept caught up. But if you want to read books that might make you laugh out loud and has some great colorful characters, you should try them!! 7y
22 likes3 comments
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BarbaraJean
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I read this book a looooong time ago, and remember being pleasantly surprised by its depth. It's about a boy who becomes a legend in his neighborhood--kind of a tall tale--but also touches on issues of poverty and race. And running. If there's one thing Manic Magee does, it's running. #runningandjumping #anditsaugust

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readingatdawn
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#currentread #readinginbed #dominican Taking it back a bit tonight for some #leisurereading I remember loving this book as a child. Hopeful that I'll have the same reaction as an adult 📚📚

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cocomass
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This is definitely one of my most #welllovedreads. I've loved it since the moment I owned it as an elementary school child and now the pages have completely abandoned the binding #riotgrams

Yanes I can see how much you loved it... wow! 😍 7y
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moarbookspleaze
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Woah!

rubyslippersreads 🎉📚🎉📚🎉🎉🎉🌟🌟🌟 8y
melbeautyandbooks Congratulations! 🎈🎉🎊 8y
DGRachel Woo hoo!🎉🎉🎊🎉🎉 8y
See All 23 Comments
SuperPunkNinja Congratulations!!! 📚🎉👏 8y
LauraBeth Nice! 😀🎉👏⭐ 8y
kspenmoll Yippee!!!! 🎉💃🏼👏👏 8y
vivastory Congratulations 👏 🎊 👍 📖 8y
LeahBergen Yay!! 🎉🎉🎉 8y
Dragon 👍😀🎉 8y
DebinHawaii Congratulations!! 🎉👍🎉👍🎉😀 8y
Bibliogeekery 🎉🎉🎉 8y
CherylDeFranceschi Congrats! 🎉📚🎉 8y
OrangeMooseReads 🎉🍾👏 8y
Reviewsbylola 🎉🎉🎉 8y
Megabooks 👍🏻👍🏻📚📚👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻 8y
Joanne1 👍👍👍🎉🎉 8y
Texreader Fantastic!!! 🎉🎉🎉👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 8y
TrishB 🎉😀👍 8y
megt Congrats! 8y
moranadatter Congrats!🎉🙌🏻 8y
susanw 📚🎉🏅 8y
asiriusreader Woohoo!!🎉🎉😊👏🏻 8y
stacybmartin Yay - congrats!! 🎉📚🎉👏🏼 8y
63 likes23 comments
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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
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#feistyfeb #mostreread I read Maniac Magee for the first time in 4th grade and when I started teaching regular Ed I read it out loud to my students. Now that I work with gifted student I do a whole unit on it with my 4th graders so I've revisited the town of Two Mills plenty over the years. As an adult I can see that it smacks a bit of the "white kid solves racism" trope, but it is a funny, sad, powerful book about tearing down stereotypes.

readinginthedark I read this one in school, too! 8y
saresmoore Great synopsis! And yeah, that is a bit of a tired trope, but it was really beneficial for my husband to put himself in Maniac's shoes. 😏 7y
vivastory @TobeyTheScavengerMonk Very cool. I'll have to keep it in mind for relatives with children when it's closer to the holidays. @saresmoore 7y
19 likes4 comments
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saresmoore
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So, here's a little glimpse into my personal mania. This is an elaborate Google sheet, featuring a tab for each of the SIX reading challenges I'm doing this year. I've made some great progress, but it seems I may need more strategy...I've already read three "C" books and three "M" books that could work for #LitsyAtoZ. ?

awishman I love this! I have an excel spreadsheet for my 5+ reading challenges! 8y
saresmoore Yes! @awishman I prefer Excel, but only kept Word of the Office suite when I switched to Mac. Google is handy, though! 8y
awishman I just love seeing other's book nerdery. It looks like we are doing some of the same challenges. 8y
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saresmoore @awishman I'm sure we are! I'm doing #ReadHarder2017 #MMDChallenge (Modern Mrs. Darcy) #ERMadLibs (from @EclecticReaders) #LitsyReadingChallenge #BetterWorldBooksChallenge and #LitsyAtoZ (by book title). Phew! How about you? 8y
awishman You've got me beat! I'm doing #LitsyAtoZ, #ReadHarder, #MMDChallenge (Growth track), #LitsyReadingChallenge, and #BacktoClassics challenge, and #HPChapteraDay 8y
LeahBergen Awesome!! 8y
Foxyfictionista I've got a crazy spreadsheet too! Mine is too let me know what I can find at my libraries vs what to buy. 😊 8y
saresmoore @awishman Brilliant! I haven't heard of Back to Classics, but I'm intrigued! 8y
CocoReads I'm terrible with spreadsheets. So I'm keeping track of my challenges in a journal. I've decided for the moment I'm mostly focusing on #LitsyAtoZ and if the books fit other challenges, I just slot them in wherever they fit. But I'm also just doing it for fun so they fit where they fit. 😜 8y
saresmoore @Foxyfictionista Yes! I have a coded column on the master sheet for that. P for physical means I own a copy, K for Kindle means I have a Kindle copy, and L is for library. It fascinates me to see the different ways people organize information. 8y
saresmoore @CocoReads I love that approach! I tried doing it in my journal, but it was just too much! I also have copies of the printouts provided for each of the challenges because I really like to write things down and check them off. 😊 8y
saresmoore @awishman Hahaha! Thank you! (I would never hate someone who challenged me to read more!) 8y
CocoReads @saresmoore I have the printouts too. Because I also like to check things off. The journal is more portable for me, that's all. I'm trying to get better at spreadsheets since I do use them for work, but not as much as word or publisher. As it is I usually have to have my accounting major daughter help me with them. 8y
Foxyfictionista Nice. Sounds like you have a good system. 8y
BekahB I love a good reading spreadsheet! 😄 8y
saresmoore @BekahB Reading nerds unite! 🤓 8y
SharonGoforth Looks great!! 8y
saresmoore @SharonGoforth Thanks! I don't want to admit how much time I've spent on it! 8y
thec0zy Ooh I love this!! Spreadsheets + reading = 😍 8y
saresmoore @thec0zy It brings me so much joy! If only someone would pay me to make spreadsheets and read. 🤔 8y
Dogearedcopy I'm like you! I have tabs for every year; and then a tab for challenges! I have to be careful though. I get a bit addicted to spreadsheets - Hours and hours on them when I should be working or could be reading! 😉 8y
saresmoore @Dogearedcopy Yes! It's almost as consuming as Litsy! 😬 8y
thec0zy @saresmoore you literally just typed my dream out! 8y
clutteredbooks Are you on Goodreads? You should definitely join us in some of the team challenges there! 8y
saresmoore @wanderful.books I am on Goodreads. How can I find the team challenges? 8y
clutteredbooks A lot of GR groups run them so you have a lot of choices. There are many individual reading challenges too and looking at how you enjoy the spreadsheet I think you'll like some of them. Check out these groups (am sure there are more but these are ones I joined so am a bit familiar with the challenges) Nothing But Reading Challenges, A Million More Pages, Stress Free Reading Challenges, The Seasonal Reading Challenge, Perks of Being a Book Addict 8y
saresmoore @wanderful.books Thanks so much! 8y
clutteredbooks My pleasure! 😊 Hope to see you in one of the challenges soon. You should definitely sign up with NBRC 😂😂😋 #unbiasedopinion 😇😇😇 8y
Jinjer I have a spreadsheet of books I want to read and have read but it never occurred to me to incorporate my reading challenges! Duh!!! I love adding books to spreadsheets and checking them off lists as do so many of you guys. 8y
Cosyreader This is amazing! Am definitely inspired to do one myself :) 8y
saresmoore @Amy-Laura It's a lot of fun! 8y
Cosyreader What is the first column for? 8y
saresmoore @Amy-Laura That's where I note how I will read the book. Books I own: P for physical, K for Kindle. L is for library. A is for audio, via Hoopla, Overdrive, or Audible. I do very little audio reading, so a distinction is not important. :) 8y
Cosyreader Oh cool! Thank you :) 8y
75 likes35 comments
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Nittnut
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"During the night, March doubled back and grabbed April by the scruff of the neck and flung it another week or two down the road."

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LibrarianRyan
Pickpick

I thought for sure that I read this when I was younger. But that can not be true, as I am sure I would remember it. What I find interesting is that even 26 years later this book is not only still relevant, but very much still how many of our communities relate to each other.

Not fulfilling Ny book challenges as I finished it on the 30th.

Full review on goodreads

Serotonin I remember this book from elementary school 👍 8y
25 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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saresmoore
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Here is a #headlesscover that is one of my husband's favorite books from childhood. He's a crazy fast sprinter, but I think he relates to Maniac on many different levels.

Also a pumpkin to bring some balance to the headless Litsy world.

#photoadaynov16

MemoirsForMe 🎃👍🏻😂😂😂 8y
keelymorgan I forgot about this book! I loved it too! 😊 8y
saresmoore @keelymorgan I haven't actually read the whole book myself. I'm thinking I should! 8y
48 likes4 comments
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23mirias
Pickpick

The book is really good so far you guys should read it

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