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community, Maniac, neighbors
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From: Shutta Crum <shutta>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 18:09:54 -0400
If I had to choose one book that epitomized issues of community-the lack thereof, the healing of, and the hope for-it would be Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Little, Brown, 1990).
The way Maniac walks the line (literally) between the East and West halves of town (the black & the white), and the way he is able to reveal "others" as individuals while staying with and caring about a wide range of families and people whose lives he enters for a brief period-is amazing. Spinelli makes us really ache for these people and this community. He allows us to see the possibilities from the outset, and we hang in there rooting for Maniac to untie the legendary knot, to bring the community to some sense of the possibility of greatness as a whole community, undivided.
I, for one, would love to see Maniac Magee as a title for a community reads selection. (one city, one book) I have used this book in book discussions with kids. But I think adults and kids could really get into the discussion together. It is a book for all ages. Communities could have knot un-raveling contests. (Is it easier if we help one another?) And it would be a great eye-opener for those adults who aren't familiar with children's literature-surprise!-it's good for them, too.
I also particularly like the mythic way Maniac is characterized . . . this lets us know that this is a universal story from the get-go. It's not one story particular to one time and one place. Because of that, I think every reader can see applications to his/her life and circumstances. We are all neighbors and sometimes a book like this can help us learn how to be good neighbors, good people.
Which reminds me of that old story (Jewish? I think.) about the difference between heaven and hell. (Forgive me if I don't summarize it quite as elegantly as I have heard it told.) It goes something like this:
Hell is a place where the people are hungry. All about are long tables laden with food. But the people have no elbows, and cannot bend their arms to bring their food to their mouths.
Heaven is a place where the people are hungry. All about are long tables laden with food. But the people have no elbows, and cannot bend their arms to bring their food to their mouths-so they feed their neighbors.
Just some thoughts on this interesting topic! Thanks for suggesting it.
Shutta Crum Youth Librarian Ann Arbor District Library Spitting Image (Clarion, 2003)
Received on Thu 02 Oct 2003 05:09:54 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 18:09:54 -0400
If I had to choose one book that epitomized issues of community-the lack thereof, the healing of, and the hope for-it would be Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Little, Brown, 1990).
The way Maniac walks the line (literally) between the East and West halves of town (the black & the white), and the way he is able to reveal "others" as individuals while staying with and caring about a wide range of families and people whose lives he enters for a brief period-is amazing. Spinelli makes us really ache for these people and this community. He allows us to see the possibilities from the outset, and we hang in there rooting for Maniac to untie the legendary knot, to bring the community to some sense of the possibility of greatness as a whole community, undivided.
I, for one, would love to see Maniac Magee as a title for a community reads selection. (one city, one book) I have used this book in book discussions with kids. But I think adults and kids could really get into the discussion together. It is a book for all ages. Communities could have knot un-raveling contests. (Is it easier if we help one another?) And it would be a great eye-opener for those adults who aren't familiar with children's literature-surprise!-it's good for them, too.
I also particularly like the mythic way Maniac is characterized . . . this lets us know that this is a universal story from the get-go. It's not one story particular to one time and one place. Because of that, I think every reader can see applications to his/her life and circumstances. We are all neighbors and sometimes a book like this can help us learn how to be good neighbors, good people.
Which reminds me of that old story (Jewish? I think.) about the difference between heaven and hell. (Forgive me if I don't summarize it quite as elegantly as I have heard it told.) It goes something like this:
Hell is a place where the people are hungry. All about are long tables laden with food. But the people have no elbows, and cannot bend their arms to bring their food to their mouths.
Heaven is a place where the people are hungry. All about are long tables laden with food. But the people have no elbows, and cannot bend their arms to bring their food to their mouths-so they feed their neighbors.
Just some thoughts on this interesting topic! Thanks for suggesting it.
Shutta Crum Youth Librarian Ann Arbor District Library Spitting Image (Clarion, 2003)
Received on Thu 02 Oct 2003 05:09:54 PM CDT
