Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli was born on February 1, 1941, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the kind of typical American small-town environment that would become the characteristic setting for much of his fiction. He attended Gettysburg College and Johns Hopkins University, where he earned an M.A. in writing, and worked for many years as an editor at a magazine before the success of his novels allowed him to write fiction full-time. Spinelli came to children’s literature relatively late in his career, and his first published book for young readers did not appear until he was in his forties — but when it arrived, it announced a voice that would become one of the most beloved in American middle grade fiction.

Spinelli’s novels are rooted in the social world of middle school — the excruciating hierarchies, the desperate desire to belong, the cruelty and the unexpected kindnesses that define the years between childhood and adolescence. His breakthrough novel, Maniac Magee (1990), tells the story of a homeless, biracial boy who runs away from his foster home and becomes a legend in the divided town of Two Mills, Pennsylvania. Written with a tall-tale energy that combines realism with something close to myth, the novel won the Newbery Medal and established Spinelli as a writer capable of addressing serious social issues — including racism and homelessness — within the framework of an adventure story that children read for pure pleasure.

Spinelli’s subsequent novels have continued to mine the social dynamics and emotional extremities of early adolescence with extraordinary insight and compassion. Wringer (1997), about a boy who dreads the annual pigeon-shooting event that marks passage to young manhood in his town, received a Newbery Honor. Stargirl (2000) became perhaps his most beloved book — the story of a free-spirited, unconventional girl who transforms a high school with her radical authenticity before her community turns against her for her difference. The novel has become a cultural touchstone for teenagers grappling with questions of conformity, individuality, and the cost of being different.

Spinelli’s writing is celebrated for its warmth, its humor, its keen observation of middle school social dynamics, and its deep compassion for the awkward, desperate, occasionally cruel human beings that children are in the process of becoming. He writes with respect and affection for his young protagonists, finding heroism in the ordinary struggles of growing up. Jerry Spinelli lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, author Eileen Spinelli, and his work continues to be read and cherished by young people navigating the same difficult years he has spent his career illuminating.