The novel follows the story of an orphan boy looking for a home in the fictional pennsylvania town of two mills. Hes so cool that he has his very own jumprope rhyme. It has been eight years since maniac magee won both the prestigious boston globehorn book award and the newbery medal, and its popularity among young. First have students look up the words and add their meanings to the list. The east and west end are separated by hector street. This study guide consists of approximately 30 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of maniac magee. Bookcap study guides do not contain text from the actual book, and are not meant to be purchased as alternatives to reading the book. You might try the following activities with the class before handing out the book. Exploring themes of racism and inequality, it follows the story of an orphan boy looking for a home in the fictional town of two mills.
Maniac magee novel unit is a common core standard aligned book study to be used with maniac magee by jerry spinelli. Maniac magee novel study unit distance learning distance. I think this is a good book because it has figurative language, uses the 5 senses, and you never know what will happen next to maniac. The first half of maniac magee made me wonder why the books been popular for a quarter century. Jerry spinelli is the author of over fifteen immensely popular books for young readers, including eggs, stargirl, space station seventh grade, newbery honor winner wringer, and maniac magee, winner of more than fifteen state childrens book awards in addition to the newbery medal. You might make lists of 10 to 15 words to assign as refrigerator studies. In maniac magee, what was the first book grayson read cover to.
Different covers of maniac magee maniac magee, high school classroom, writing. Maniac magee, lived with his parents until he was 3 years old. The effectiveness of using picture books with upper elementary and middle school students cannot be. The following words appear in maniac magee and may be unfamiliar to some students. Little, brown and company takes great pleasure and pride in announcing that, effective immediately, we will be the sole publisher of the paperback edition of jerry spinellis classic newbery medal winner, maniac magee. Maniac magee time line timeline timetoast timelines. Maniac magee by jerry spinelli chapters 1 4 before you read the chapters. Explain that the book they will read is titled maniac magee. The writing is excellent throughout, but initially i wasnt interested in maniac or the other characters. Maniac magee book summary maniac magee is about jeffrey lionel magees search for home and the racial prejudice in the town of two mills. But maniac makes 101 bandshell boulevard a home with his attitude, some books, a lot of love. It won the 1991 newbery medal and remains a vital, relevant classic. Jeffrey lionel maniac magee might have lived a normal life if a freak accident hadnt made him an orphan.
He came into this world named jeffrey lionel magee, but when his parents died and his life changed, so did his name. He becomes a local legend for feats of athleticism and helpfulness, and his ignorance of sharp racial boundaries in the town. Maniac magee is a novel written by american author jerry spinelli and published in 1990. Its about prejudice and love and home and baseball and fear and understanding. What we dont know is what exactly happened in the year it took him to cover the two hundred miles between the two towns. Its about jeffrey lionel magee, sometimes known as maniac magee, and about the people of the fictional town of two mills. It gives a brief background about the author, jerry spinelli and some highlights from the book. Although the book is a bit difficult to get into, the persistent reader will be well rewarded. The protagonist of maniac magee is a most unusual character living a very different kind of life than most boys his age. This lesson will give a summary of the popular book maniac magee, a novel written by jerry spinelli. Maniac magee, by jerry spinelli is a newberry award winning novel about a young homeless boy who becomes a legend in his town. After the miles and miles maniacs seenbetterdays sneakers chewed up, the book ends with him heading home to the place hes been looking for this whole time. Maniac magee by spinelli, jerry and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
Maniac magee was born in a dump, his heart is a cereal box, he has an eightinch pet cockroach on a leash. See more ideas about maniac magee, 5th grade reading and book study. Nobody was at his funeral, so maniac runs away again. Exploring themes of racism and inequality, it follows the story of an orphan. I was given the topic of the knot, some little plot device in the middle of the book. Then instruct them to tape or use a magnet to post the list on.
Jeffrey lionel maniac magee is an orphan searching for a loving home when he finds himself in a small, segregated town in pennsylvania. The author, jerry spinelli, modeled the setting in this book after his hometown, which was also in pennsylvania. Created as part of the digital advertisement project for libr 264 addeddate 20120514 21. Think back on some of your favorite characters from past.
Book report create a book jacket cover this book report can be used after. He presents maniac as a legendary figure, and leaves it to the reader to decide what is true and what is myth. Maniac magee is a heartwarming book first published 25 years ago. Students come up with possible story ideas that could relate to the title, maniac. He was born in a house, a pretty ordinary house, right across the river from here, in bridgeport.
Maniac magee is a book that stuck with me long after i read it in fifth grade for the first time. When he was in the east end one day he met a girl named amanda. They say if you knew he was coming and you sprinkled salt on. Have students predict what the character with this name might be like. Jeffery lionel magee maniac magee genre of the story. That home is prefabricated, just waiting for him to step in and claim his palace. The perfect companion to jerry spinellis, maniac magee, this study guide contains a chapter by chapter analysis of the book, a summary of the plot, and a guide to major characters and themes. Reading practice, literacy skills, vocabulary practice. They say he kept an eightinch cockroach on a leash and that rats stood guard over him while he slept. Jerry spinellis maniac magee is a fastpaced novel in three parts, each part subdivided into short chapters. The settings where maniac magee takes place and where jerry grew up are similar and different an several different ways. For christmas, grayson gives maniac a baseball mitt and a brand new baseball maniac gave him a book about grayson. Its not like the book is called jeffrey lionel magee. This is a complete novel study that includes many individual products bundled together to o.
A reason why they are both similar is because they both lived near philadelphia and their towns were both split into the west and east ends. Write their ideas on the board, then have a volunteer look up the word in a dictionary. Maniac teaches grayson to read while grayson teaches maniac baseball skills. This is a little something i put together about the novel maniac magee. More specifically, it is located in the racially divided town of two mills. How could we not, when maniac magee finally ends with maniac simply content that finally, truly, at long last, someone was calling him home 46. Jeffrey lionel maniac magee might have lived a normal life if a f. Spinelli has written the novel in third person he said, as opposed to i said, which is called first person, using an objective viewpoint in which the thoughts and feelings of the characters are not revealed. Jeffrey gets the nickname maniac after performing athletic feats of mythic proportions and appearing fearless in the face of bullies and other terrifying situations. Maniac magee is about jeffrey lionel magees search for home and the racial prejudice in the town of two mills. The three parts describe three pivotal periods in the life and growth of the main. Jexceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. Spinelli has written the novel in third person he said, as opposed to i said, which is called first person, using an objective viewpoint in which the thoughts and feelings of the characters are not. Powered by create your own unique website with customizable templates.
The setting, which is where and when a story takes place, in maniac magee is the recent past in the state of pennsylvania. His first book for children, space station seventh grade, was published in 1982. Noprep, predictable, and extremely userfriendly, this literature guide is perfect for whole class, small. Maniac magee study guide contains a biography of jerry spinelli, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. A newbery medal winning modern classic about a racially divided small town and a boy who runs. Jeffrey gets the nickname maniac after performing athletic feats of mythic proportions and appearing fearless in the. We know that jeffrey lionel magee starts out in hollidaysburg, pennsylvania and maniac magee ends up in two mills. Different covers of maniac magee novel studies, literary analysis. For those of you who havent already had the pleasure, let us introduce you to this wonderful book. In 1990, spinelli won both the newbery medal and the boston globe horn book award for his novel maniac magee.
Click on the picture to see other books written by spinelli. Maniac magee jerry spinelli winner of the newbery medal before the story they say maniac magee was born in a dump they say his stomach was a cereal box and his heart a sofa spring. The characters are compelling, realistic, and will challenge whatever tendency you may have towards clustering with your own. Well explore the major events and problems in the book, and discuss its conclusion. Maniac magee explores a variety of themes including loss, homelessness, acceptance. A film adaptation was made for the nickelodeon network in 2003 the font used for the book title on the cover is gillies gothic bold, which is an informal script font originally. Pius bak is a freelance illustrator, comic book artist and concept designer. Parents need to know that jerry spinellis maniac magee is an exciting, moving, and sometimes funny story, brilliantly told, about an orphan boy who runs away from his feuding aunt and uncle at age 8 and makes a name and legend for himself in a racially divided town. It has been eight years since maniac magee won both the prestigious boston globehorn book award and the newbery. Maniac learnss that grayson was an illiterate minor league player. The story reminded me of paul bunyan and other legendary folks who had mindboggling abilities. See more ideas about maniac magee, 5th grade reading and teaching.
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