What Book Did I Like the Best Underage of 12?

There is one book that immediately comes to mind, although the memory is foggy, I enjoyed Maniac Magee By Jerry Spinelli as a child. My fifth-grade teacher Ms. Serrano read it to our class. I remember feeling excited when Ms. Serrano would call our class to the reading center. She waited for us to settle down on the carpet, then she would sit in her special chair, looking down at our babyfaces. When she began reading, I always relaxed.

I do not know why I loved this book so dearly. The book was different from most things I read, like Dork Diaries or Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Maniac Magee was about an orphan boy looking for a home. He goes from east to west, in the segregated United States. I did not understand the parts about segregation and the mistreatment of people of color, but I did understand Jefferey Lionel aka Maniac Magee. Jefferey lost his parents at a young age, causing him to live with his bickering aunt and uncle. Till one day he couldn’t take it and left in the middle of school performance. Jefferey went from east to west, he was searching for something, but he did not know what. I always guessed the love he had but lost. He found it in the people that took him in, but eventually, he was the one to leave. I remember feeling pangs of sympathy as I watched him struggle. He had battled emotions he did not understand, we were both hurt by actions of adults even if we couldn’t understand. 

Maniac had these black and white converses that were falling apart. The soles were coming undone. I believe there was even a hole in his shoe. During the fall that we read Jeffery’s story, and I too had a hole in my boot. I too had “parents” who argued more than they talk. 

I loved Maniac Magee the best because he was my friend. A character I projected onto even if I didn’t know it. All the things I wanted to do or say I could because Jefferey did it for me. He went looking for a family that cared, that showered him with attention and love. I don’t remember how Jeffery’s story ended, but I hope he ended up happy and with a family that loved him.