How did Jerry Spinelli's background influence Maniac Magee?

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Spinelli, was raised in Pennsylvania in the early 20th century. He may have created the fictional city of “Two Mills” based on his own experiences growing up in the white part of a segregated town in the North. The protagonist “Jeffery” - has a name that is close to his own name. He may have been drawing a comparison between the character and himself as a child.

 

Another character Spinelli likely wrote close to an image of himself is Grayson. Spinelli played baseball as a child and writes on his website that he gave up his dreams of playing in the Major League only because he found a love of writing and journalism late in high school. Perhaps the scene in which Grayson learns to read by comparing his motivation and perseverance to playing baseball for a tough coach is something Spinelli thought of decades before writing Maniac Magee because he experienced it himself.