Maniac Magee Book Report

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is a novel published in 1990 by Little, Brown and Company & Hachette Book Group. It was published in New York, NY, USA.

The main character and focus on the story is Jeffrey “Maniac” Lionel Magee, an orphan and runaway. He has a rebel sense to him; he does not believe in local myths, nor does he adhere to social norms in Two Mills, especially the racial splitting in the town. This is further seen towards the end of the story where Magee does challenges that the children in the West End suggest, such as knocking on Finsterwald’s door, a feat that no one else has attempted. The characters are well developed, and that the author has made use of seemingly insignificant scenes of the story to further progress them. Mars Bars Thompson especially, has had a major turn of character in the end. Mars was the bully of the East End at the beginning of the book but towards the end, Mars and Maniac had learned to become friendlier and they were able to tolerate each other's presence. Amanda Beale was another important person to Maniac, and who could be considered his first friend in Two Mills. The Beale family seemed to think or care very little about Jeffrey’s race, and gladly accepted him.

The major points in the story are about not necessarily believing in something just because

The story unfolds in a town called "Two Mills" and revolves around Jeffrey Lionel Magee, an orphaned boy at 3 years old. Jeffrey lived to the age of 11 with with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, both of whom despised one another. This led to Jeffrey running away. Magee runs to Two Mills, a town heavily segregated by race, and the first person he talks to is Amanda Beale. He also met another boy, Mars Bars Thompson, who takes a dislike to him immediately. Maniac made several other appearances in the town pulling off incredible feats which eventually earned him the title