Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli (born February 1, 1941)^[1] is an American writer of children's novels that feature adolescence and early adulthood. His novels include Maniac Magee,^[2] Stargirl, and Wringer.

Jerry Spinelli
Spinelli in 2008
Born	(1941-02-01) February 1, 1941 (age 84) Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Genre	Children's and young-adult novels
Notable works	Space Station Seventh Grade Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? Maniac Magee Wringer Stargirl Eggs
Notable awards	Newbery Medal 1991
Signature
Website
jerryspinelliauthor.com

Biography

Spinelli was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania,^[3] and currently lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. At the age of 16, his love of sports inspired him to compose a poem about a recent football victory, which his father published in the local newspaper without his knowledge. It was at this time he realized that he would not become a major league baseball player, so he decided to become a writer.^[2]

At Gettysburg College, Spinelli spent his time writing short stories and was the editor of the college literary magazine, The Mercury.^[4] After graduation, he became a writer and editor for a department store magazine. The next two decades, he spent his time working "normal jobs" during the day so that he had the energy to write fiction in his free time. He found himself writing during lunch breaks, on weekends, and after dinner.^[5]

His first few novels were written for adults and were all rejected. His fifth novel was also intended for adults but became his first children's book. This work, Space Station Seventh Grade, was published in 1982.^[5]

Spinelli graduated from Gettysburg College in 1963 and acquired his MA from Johns Hopkins University in 1964. In 1977, he married Eileen Mesi,^[1] another children's writer.^[5] Since about 1980, as Eileen Spinelli, she has collaborated with illustrators to create dozens of picture books. They have six children and 21 grandchildren.^[6]

Works

Title	Year	Ref.
Space Station Seventh Grade	1982
Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush?	1984	[7]
Night of the Whale	1985	[7]
Jason and Marceline	1986	[8]
Dump Days	1988	[7]
Maniac Magee	1990 – Newbery Award[9]	[7]
The Bathwater Gang	1990	[7]
Hallie Jefferys Life	1991
Fourth Grade Rats	1991	[7]
Report to the Principal’s Office	1991	[7]
There's a Girl in My Hammerlock	1991	[7]
Do the Funky Pickle	1992	[7]
Who Ran My Underwear Up the Flagpole?	1992	[7]
The Bathwater Gang Gets Down to Business	1992	[7]
Picklemania	1993	[7]
Tooter Pepperday	1995	[7]
Crash	1996	[7]
The Library Card	1997	[7]
Wringer	1997 – Newbery honor book	[7][10]
Blue Ribbon Blues: A Tooter Tale	1998	[7]
Knots in My Yo-Yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid	1998	[7]
Stargirl	2000	[7]
Loser	2002	[7]
Milkweed: A Novel	2003	[7]
My Daddy and Me	2003	[7]
Love, Stargirl	2007	[7]
Eggs	2007	[7]
Smiles to Go	2008	[7]
I Can Be Anything	2010	[7]
Jake and Lily	2012	[11]
Third Grade Angels	2012
Hokey Pokey	2013	[7]
Mama Seeton's Whistle	2015
The Warden's Daughter	2017
My Fourth of July	2019
Dead Wednesday	2021

In culture

George Plimpton related an anecdote about Spinelli having bought at auction an evening with the Plimptons, in New York City, during which George Plimpton introduced Spinelli to writers and editors dining at Elaine's, and two months after which Spinelli wrote Plimpton to announce the publication of Spinelli's first book (a children's book) by Houghton Mifflin.^[12]

See also