1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 This is MJ, I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Find all my work at MJMunoz.com 3 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Prepare yourself for some off the cuff book talk as I tackle another middle grade book chapter by chapter. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,000 This is MJ bringing you my chapter 5 review for Maniac Melee. 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:25,000 This is, I'm going chapter by chapter through this book talking about the good, the bad, the ugly, and what I think of it overall. 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,000 So, here's the review for chapter 5. I didn't like it. See you next time. 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:47,000 No, I didn't like it and I really do think I've identified the issue, which is that Jerry Spinelli does this mythic storytelling where he removes characterization. 8 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:58,000 And, sure, I'm trying to be as nice as possible because I don't want to be mean and it was never my intention to be mean or cruel or snarky or anything like that with these. 9 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:05,000 I just want to be honest about it. This doesn't work for me. Why? Because there's not enough character involvement, character interaction going on. 10 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:11,000 But what are you talking about MJ? There were three bullies who threw a kid whose name was made up on the spot over a fence. 11 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:23,000 And then, McGee went in there to this yard of this cranky old man who everybody's afraid of and he's got a ball and frisbee and whatever else boomerang, you know, graveyard in his backyard. 12 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:35,000 You know, McGee went in there and picked up the kid who passed out with the wallies or whatever they called it and he carried him out of there. 13 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:42,000 He put him on the front stoop, the kid woke up, he ran away and McGee sat down and sat on the stoop where nobody ever sits. 14 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:48,000 Here's the thing. That's what happened. 15 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:55,000 Those high school kids were shown to be jerks. Their conflict showed them, showed their character that they're not good people. 16 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:01,000 They're bullies. They're picking on a kid younger than them who they can throw over a fence. Not cool at all. 17 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,000 I don't care about them. I doubt we're ever going to see them again. We didn't get their names. 18 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:17,000 And anyway, we didn't get their names. I'm glad I held back and you should be too. 19 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:24,000 Anyway, so we didn't get their names and we're never going to see them again. I doubt or I'm sure. I'm sure we're never going to see them again. 20 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:32,000 So beyond that, they are just props in the story and so is Alex Jones. 21 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Is that really his name? Alex Jones? Alfred Jones? Albert Jones? I don't know. I've got to look back. 22 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,000 But if it's Alex Jones, that's unintentionally hilarious. 23 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:50,000 But anyway, so and that's not spineleseful. It's just how things go. 24 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:57,000 Anyway, so besides that, you know, McGee goes in there. McGee doesn't know anything about the yard. 25 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,000 I don't even know who he knew the kid was there unless he was watching them throw him in there, which is possible. 26 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:06,000 He doesn't know anything about the house. He doesn't know anything about the stoop that all kids are afraid of the house. 27 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,000 All kids are afraid of the yard. All kids are afraid of the stoop. 28 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:16,000 So he's not acting with bravery, although from the perspective of the three bullies of West End or in West End, 29 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,000 if they don't know that he doesn't know, they think he does know. 30 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000 And therefore it's impressive to them what he does. 31 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,000 However, the audience knows that he doesn't know. 32 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:33,000 And therefore it removes some of the wonder and awe from what he did. 33 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000 He didn't accomplish a feat of going into somewhere where he knew it had a bad reputation. 34 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,000 It was super scary. He went into some random yard and pulled a kid out of there. 35 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:46,000 And then he sat down on the stoop of that yard and read his book. 36 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:50,000 And there's not really anything impressive about that. 37 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:56,000 If Spinelli is trying to frame this and like it's all about your perspective and it's all about what you know and what you don't know, 38 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:01,000 it's about how informed you are, how ignorant you are, and that's why you're racist or whatever, 39 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:08,000 I guess I could be seeing his point a little bit here because I've just kind of walked through these different perspectives, 40 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:17,000 you know, actual perspectives and how they would affect your perception of the story and what's going on. 41 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:23,000 And there were a few literary flourishes I liked, like the kid in the backyard looking like a mouse in front of a snake 42 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,000 that's gaping law open, ready to strike. That was pretty cool. 43 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:33,000 And then there was one other thing he said a little bit after that that I thought was really good, really effective, a great turn of phrase. 44 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:40,000 But yeah, I don't know what it was now. 45 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,000 Probably the best thing about this chapter is I'm going to make this up on the spot. 46 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:51,000 I know this is true, that this chapter of this book inspired the movie The Sandlot. 47 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,000 You hear that? Maniac Be, Chapter 5, inspired the movie The Sandlot. 48 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,000 And for that, it deserves a place of honor because that's a great movie. 49 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,000 At least it was when I was a kid. I watched everything so much at school. 50 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:12,000 We all watched it. Yeah, somehow at school we watched it and we watched it over and over and we watched it forever. 51 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 And anyway, I'm eternally grateful to Jerry Smalley for giving us The Sandlot 52 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,000 because I'm confident that that's exactly where that movie came from, this chapter of this book. 53 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:26,000 So thank you, Jerry Smalley. I owe you one. I owe you one. 54 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:31,000 Anyway, if you want more analysis of this book, check out the playlist I have going. 55 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:36,000 Whether I finish the book or not, the playlist will still exist and I will put on the show notes, 56 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:43,000 or I'll put a special post on the episode, sorry, on the website saying, 57 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:51,000 I will put a special episode or a post on the website called Maniac McGee, you know, chapter by chapter, you know, whatever, complete, incomplete. 58 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,000 And it'll be there and you can check that out as you wish. 59 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,000 I hope you enjoyed that. Please remember to like, share, subscribe. 60 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,000 I invite you to comment, ask questions, and share your thoughts with me. 61 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,000 It's always more fun when you're part of the conversation. 62 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,000 Until next time, keep reading, be well, and do good things. 63 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:21,000 Visit MJMunoz.com for more of my work and help me build up the fortress fiction.