A Slice by Miss Amenta

For reading, one of my groups of students just started reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. It was one of my favorite books when I was a kid growing up. I even made a movie of the book using my older brother and sister as the characters for a book report project in fifth grade. I’ve read the book many times over the course of my life but it’s been a few years since the last time. This weekend I pulled out my copy to start reading. Within a few pages of starting I was back in that world. I was ready to remember how an ordinary kid named Jeffery became the legend known as Maniac. It was like seeing an old friend who I hadn’t gotten to talk to in a long time. Books are a gift. They let us remember who we are, who we want to be and how to feel for other people even if they’re made up. I can’t wait to keep going on Maniac’s journey with him. Getting to the ending will be just as satisfying now as the first time.