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jenbsbooks 's review for:
Maniac Magee
by Jerry Spinelli
medium-paced
I didn't really care for this one. It was weird, not really a set story, just some jump-the-shark interactions.
It starts with this "Before the story ..." that I don't really get, even re-reading it after finishing the book. In Part1 we get the sad backstory (parents killed, goes to live with Aunt and Uncle who he runs away from. Chapter 2 ?? Then he connects with some people on the East End. Which is where the blacks live. Jeffrey/Maniac is white. It was nice to have a great black family take him in (happened in another recent read, Lupica's Fast Break), showing a functional family, loving and caring.
The story tries to address some of the racial issues, but it just got lost in the silliness of him doing a bunch of things while reading a book. I never understood the running on the rail, or the name manic, or how he happened to be able to hit the fast ball that no other kid could, or tried to even envision a pitcher throwing a frog instead of a ball (doesn't seem like it would be very aerodynamic). Mars Bars. Allergic to pizza. Cobble's knot.
Part 2 started and I was so confused. What? What is happening? Very strange shift. Baby buffalo. A man named Grayson (that's Hub's name, so I have a soft spot for that). Baseball. Funeral.
Part 3, another family connection, and connecting both sides of town.
I just didn't really get it. Any of it.
I had this in all three formats. I'd picked up a physical copy at a thrift store (for the Little Free Library), and that bumps a book up my TBR. I was doing #middlegradeMay2025, and borrowed the audiobook and Kindle copy from the library. Went primarily with audio. Female narrator ... I think I would have expected a male narrator, as the MC was male, but it was 3rd person(past tense) so I guess it didn't really matter.
It starts with this "Before the story ..." that I don't really get, even re-reading it after finishing the book. In Part1 we get the sad backstory (parents killed, goes to live with Aunt and Uncle who he runs away from. Chapter 2 ?? Then he connects with some people on the East End. Which is where the blacks live. Jeffrey/Maniac is white. It was nice to have a great black family take him in (happened in another recent read, Lupica's Fast Break), showing a functional family, loving and caring.
The story tries to address some of the racial issues, but it just got lost in the silliness of him doing a bunch of things while reading a book. I never understood the running on the rail, or the name manic, or how he happened to be able to hit the fast ball that no other kid could, or tried to even envision a pitcher throwing a frog instead of a ball (doesn't seem like it would be very aerodynamic). Mars Bars. Allergic to pizza. Cobble's knot.
Part 2 started and I was so confused. What? What is happening? Very strange shift. Baby buffalo. A man named Grayson (that's Hub's name, so I have a soft spot for that). Baseball. Funeral.
Part 3, another family connection, and connecting both sides of town.
I just didn't really get it. Any of it.
I had this in all three formats. I'd picked up a physical copy at a thrift store (for the Little Free Library), and that bumps a book up my TBR. I was doing #middlegradeMay2025, and borrowed the audiobook and Kindle copy from the library. Went primarily with audio. Female narrator ... I think I would have expected a male narrator, as the MC was male, but it was 3rd person(past tense) so I guess it didn't really matter.