By Jerry Spinelli
Little, Brown, 1990
Narrated by S. Epatha Merkerson
Genre
Realistic Fiction
Awards
- Newbery Medal (1991)
- Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (1992)
Orphaned at a young age, Jeffery Magee was sent to live with an aunt and uncle who hated each other so much they had two of everything so they didn't have to share or talk. Jeffery couldn't stand it, so he ran away and just kept running until he reached a town separated, east and west, blacks and whites. But, for a while, Jeffery didn't understand why people were called white or black because he saw a rainbow of different colors, until he finally understood and he left the black family he had come to live with because he was white and they were being harassed. A wonderful story about how one boy, through running, untying knots, and being friendly, made great strides, with the help of parents on both sides, in breaking down the racial barriers of a town that began revering him as Maniac Magee, and learning what it might be like to accept having a family again.
Opinion
This book was a fabulous example of how racial lines can be drawn, even by children when they've never visited the home of someone from the other race. The author did a great job of showing the lives of all the characters and the changes in their attitude the more they got to know Jeffery. The suggestion that Jeffery didn't want to be part of a family because he was afraid he would hurt them (like he lost his parents, a guardian he found working at a zoo died, and his family in the black neighborhood was being harassed) seemed underdeveloped and then forced on the reader, even though it made sense for the character to feel this way.
Ideas
A great story to add to any display or curriculum about race relations. Also something most children can relate to on some level, not feeling like they belong in a specific group of people.
No comments:
Post a Comment