Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

My name is Jeffrey, although people on the streets call me Maniac. I first met Amanda in the East End and stayed at her parent's house after they discovered I didn't have a home. People in the neighborhood call me Maniac for catching footballs against high school kids, running on the train rails, untying the legendary Cobble's Knot, and other heroic feats. However, other people think I should go back and live with the "whities", so I ran away and was staying with Earl in a storage room. Now Earl was pretty old, but he told great stories about being a minor league pitcher. We really cared about each other, but now he's dead. I had to run away again, and I'm back on the West End, face-to-face with an old bully "friend".


I read this Newbery-winning book years ago but just realized it wasn't on my blog. Maniac is a wonderful character. He has the confidence to move across the city as the need arises, and he has an innocence to accept people as they are (except for his aunt and uncle). Even though he doesn't understand the racial tensions he encounters, he becomes aware enough to do something about it. His acceptance of others, his kindness, and his sense of humanity allow others to take a liking to him. Even bullies and bigots end up on his side. His "heroic feats" are entertaining and amusing and help to make him an endearing character. His need to run wherever he goes is a unique quirk that adds to "maniacness". The entire plot can be seen as several separate stories, as the settings change between "homes" and cultures. It all comes together in the end, as Maniac finally finds a home.