Comparison

Maniac Magee vs New Kid

How Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli and New Kid by Jerry Craftcompare on reading level, grade placement, curriculum overlap, and shared themes — derived from primary-source citations on each book’s ReadingList page.

Maniac Magee

Jerry Spinelli

Lexile
820L
Grades
47
Published
1990
Pages
184
Genre
Middle Grade Fiction

New Kid

Jerry Craft

Grades
48
Published
2019
Pages
256
Genre
Middle Grade Graphic Novel

At a glance

Grade-range overlap
Grades 47
Year-of-publication gap
29 years (1990 vs 2019)
Page-count gap
72 pages (184 vs 256)
Shared curricula
24 of 123
Shared themes
0 of 11

Curriculum overlap

Both books appear in 24 shared curriculum frameworks:

Themes

Only Maniac Magee

race · homelessness · family · legend and reality · prejudice

Only New Kid

race and identity · code-switching · middle school adjustment · graphic narrative · private vs public school · friendship

Get these books

Maniac Magee

Jerry Spinelli

Where to find this book

Audible: new members only · many assigned titles are included with the membership.

Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook

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New Kid

Jerry Craft

Where to find this book

Audible: new members only · many assigned titles are included with the membership.

Other formats on Amazon: Kindle · Audiobook

As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you. Pricing, Prime, and trial terms shown on Amazon.

Related on ReadingList

Comparison data computed from each book’s curriculum citations, Lexile measures (MetaMetrics), grade-range references (state ELA frameworks + AP/IB syllabi), and ban records (PEN America 2022-2024 index + ALA). Last reviewed: 2026-06-20.