Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli: Summary

If you enjoy a good mystery and learning a lesson at the same time, then you should read Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli. The story begins with a little boy named Jeffrey, whose parents were killed by a drunk driver when he was only three years old. Young Jeffrey was sent to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan. He remained with them for eight years and then ran away. At age 11, Jeffrey found himself alone and homeless in a new town. The story follows Jeffrey’s life and adventures; some good, some bad. I really liked this book even though some parts of it were slow. I’m all about action! I think this is an interesting book for boys or girls 11-13 years old.
The setting for this story is a small town in Pennsylvania. The town is divided into two sections. One section of town is where the white people live, and the second section is where the black people live. The story happens during a time when segregation was accepted across our nation. This setting is important because it helped Jeffrey to accept the differences in people. Jeffrey was white and had never been around black people until he ran away. …show more content…
One of his first decisions was to try to make a friend. Amanda became his first friend. Being homeless, Jeffrey struggled to find food and shelter. Amanda introduced Jeffrey to some adults that took care of him until he decided to run away again. Another conflict involved blacks vs. whites. Jeffrey became very accepting of black people and some families accepted him as a young white