Synopsis
Presents a brief biography of the author from Norristown, Pennsylvania, who won the Newbery Medal award in 1991 for "Maniac Magee."
School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-Simple introductions to two popular authors. Large type and lots of photographs, including some showing the subjects as young children, give readers a sense of these men. Each spread has photographs and drawings on one side and text and a sidebar with interesting or fun facts on the other. The sidebars in Pinkwater are a little silly (but then Pinkwater is a very funny man). Readers follow each author from birth to adulthood as McGinty presents assorted facts about his interests and education, and how he entered the field of children's literature. Explanations of how the authors use their own lives as background for their books are well done. (Spinelli's youth was spent in a racially mixed neighborhood, and how this background contributed to the writing of Maniac Magee is carefully explained.) Easy-to-access sources of information.-Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.