Maniac Magee Study Guide

Maniac Magee is the sixth book written by American children's author Jerry Spinelli. Due to its careful, bittersweet rendering of racism in 1980s and 1990s in the United States, the book, published in 1990, won an incredible number of awards including: the Newbery Medal (1991), the Charlotte Award (1992), the Mark Twain Award (1993), and a ranking among the top 40 children's books of all-time by the School Library Journal in 2012. The book is often taught in elementary school due to its young protagonist, clear writing style, and utility as a piece of historical fiction for confronting issues of race and racism. The book was made into a movie in 2003.