Jac Maniac Magee Rubric

I strongly disliked Maniac Magee because I did not think that Maniac had any goal or had much action in the book. It was very slow in my opinion. I think this because I did not like the sad parts, and this story just has no effect on me. This story is good for people who like emotion but not me. I do not like books that have emotional things in them. According to the text this shows an emotional part: “...Whatever was going to happen at the end of the next minute, he didn't want to see it. So he ran....” (Pg.139 Spinelli). According to the text this shows a boring part: “...First, Giant John had to be convinced that Maniac was not kidnapping his brothers.” (Pg.129 Spinelli) These are some reasons why I disliked Maniac Magee, I really didn't like how Jerry Spinelli explained a character, Maniac, this way because it gives me mixed feelings about what the story is trying to tell about the real Maniac Magee. Some of the book was gross too! At the McNab's their house was disgusting, they had cockroaches in their kitchen and all of that gross stuff. It was so hard to read that part, it was so gross! I think that the emotional parts were very upsetting but I did not like some of the characters and Maniac has such a hard life that it is sort of sad. Jerry Spinelli did a good job but this story just is not the kind of stories I like, I like adventure stories, fantasy stories, and mystery stories. This is why I strongly disliked Maniac Magee.

Summary

Character Traits

Feats of Maniac MageeLegendary feats of Maniac the one and only mageeRunning on steel rails where kids only walkedUntying Cobble’s Knot as nobody had ever doneSludging rocks at poles 61 times in a rowScreaming, yelling, screeching at family membersEnding the rivalry of untied shoesLiving in a house with two toastersSliding through Finsterwald’s backyard like it was his yardWithstands Mars Bars daring glareRunning through Two Mills waving to every person in sightPunted, slapped, a perfect football puntManiac the legend of Two Mills

List Poem

Maniac

Magee

Jerry Spinelli

Book Cover

Book Theme

THEMES-------------------------------------------------------------------------Homelessness“What he did have was the deer shedat the Elmwood Park Zoo.” (Pg.29 Spinelli)-------------------------------------------------------------------------Discrimination/Segregation“‘You move on now Whitey.’ The man said.”(Pg.60 Spinelli)------------------------------------------------------------------------Maniac as a legend“They saw him raise his hand, and though theywere too far away to hear, they saw him knock upon thedoor, fifteen hearts beat in time to that silent knocking.The door opened. Finsterwald’s door opened.”(Pg.139 Spinelli)

Glog by: Jaclyn Goyette