Jerry Spinelli

Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee might havelived a normal life if a trolley accident hadn't made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run-- and not just run away, but run. And this is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.

As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town's annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.

Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

Ever since they were Snotsippers, Jack and the girl have fought, until one day she steals his bike and as he and the Amigos try to recover it, Jack realizes that he is growing up and must eventually leave the "goodlands and badlands of Hokey Pokey."

It looks like Plumstead Middle School may never be the same after Sunny, Eddie, Salem and Pickles are all told to report to the principal's office.

Will Tuppence's life has always been ruled by science and common sense but in ninth grade, shaken up by the discovery that protons decay, he begins to see the entire world differently and gains new perspective on his relationships with his little sister and two closest friends. Newbery Medal-winning Jerry Spinelli spins another wonderfully original tale, about the ninth-grade trials of a stargazing science geek, the randomness of life, and how it's...

"George 'Suds' Morton competes with his third-grade classmates to earn the first 'halo' of the year for good behavior, but being good turns out to be more stressful than he anticipated"--

Living with her warden father in an apartment above a 1950s prison, Cammie O'Reilly struggles to come to terms with the loss of her mother, who died saving her from harm when she was a baby, and interacts with some of the reformed inmates.

Maisie joins her school's all-male wrestling team and tries to last through the season, despite opposition from other students, her best friend, and her own teammates.