Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli’s Followers (3,832)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo

Jerry Spinelli


Born
in Norristown, PA, The United States
February 01, 1941

Website

Genre


When Jerry Spinelli was a kid, he wanted to grow up to be either a cowboy or a baseball player. Lucky for us he became a writer instead.

He grew up in rural Pennsylvania and went to college at Gettysburg College and Johns Hopkins University. He has published more than 25 books and has six children and 16 grandchildren.
Jerry Spinelli began writing when he was 16 — not much older than the hero of his book Maniac Magee. After his high school football team won a big game, his classmates ran cheering through the streets — all except Spinelli, who went home and wrote a poem about the victory. When his poem was published in the local paper, Spinelli decided to become a writer instead of a major-league shortstop.

In most of his books, Spinelli writes
...more

Average rating: 3.8 · 629,483 ratings · 39,862 reviews · 100 distinct worksSimilar authors
Stargirl (Stargirl, #1)

3.77 avg rating — 330,056 ratings — published 2000 — 155 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Maniac Magee

3.90 avg rating — 126,168 ratings — published 1990 — 82 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Love, Stargirl (Stargirl, #2)

3.82 avg rating — 43,315 ratings — published 2007 — 53 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Milkweed

4.01 avg rating — 30,423 ratings — published 2003 — 61 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Loser

3.74 avg rating — 21,069 ratings — published 2002 — 57 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Wringer

3.64 avg rating — 14,997 ratings — published 1997 — 61 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Crash

3.80 avg rating — 12,982 ratings — published 1996 — 55 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Eggs

3.60 avg rating — 10,802 ratings — published 2007 — 42 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Jake and Lily

3.97 avg rating — 5,647 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Smiles to Go

3.77 avg rating — 5,250 ratings — published 2008 — 23 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Jerry Spinelli…
Stargirl Love, Stargirl
(2 books)
by
3.78 avg rating — 374,060 ratings

Report to the Principal's O... Do the Funky Pickle Who Ran My Underwear up the... Picklemania
(4 books)
by
3.68 avg rating — 2,131 ratings

Space Station Seventh Grade Jason and Marceline
(2 books)
by
3.81 avg rating — 1,125 ratings

The Bathwater Gang The Bathwater Gang Gets Dow...
(2 books)
by
3.78 avg rating — 49 ratings

Related News

Ready to see some of your favorite stories come to life? Hollywood producers, directors, and actors are continuing their obsession...
191 likes · 98 comments
Quotes by Jerry Spinelli  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a cork board like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.”
Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

“Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today. Inhabit your moments. Don’t rent them out to tomorrow. Do you know what you’re doing when you spend a moment wondering how things are going to turn out with Perry?

You’re cheating yourself out of today. Today is calling to you, trying to get your attention, but you’re stuck on tomorrow, and today trickles away like water down a drain. You wake up the next morning and that today you wasted is gone forever. It’s now yesterday. Some of those moments may have had wonderful things in store for you , but now you’ll never know.”
Jerry Spinelli, Love, Stargirl

“You’ll know her more by your questions than by her answers. Keep looking at her long enough. One day you might see someone you know.”
Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

Polls

December book read - orphans or displaced children

 
  4 votes 25.0%

 
  3 votes 18.8%

 
  3 votes 18.8%

 
  2 votes 12.5%

 
  2 votes 12.5%

 
  1 vote 6.3%

 
  1 vote 6.3%

 
  0 votes 0.0%

 
  0 votes 0.0%

 
  0 votes 0.0%

16 total votes
More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
The Seasonal Read...: Good Books on Audio 47 348 Oct 01, 2009 11:24PM  
100+ Books in 2024: Susan's 100+ Reading Challenge 93 545 Dec 30, 2009 02:32PM  
Derek Hough Lovers.: Derek 18 12 Jan 17, 2010 05:08PM  
The Next Best Boo...: If you could buy 5 books... 57 872 Jun 15, 2010 05:58PM  
Wild Things: YA G...: "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli 15 31 Jun 26, 2010 05:26AM  
Pick-a-Shelf: 2010-06 - Chick-Lit - What will you read in June? 75 95 Jun 27, 2010 10:31PM  
Wild Things: YA G...: Fantastic Suggestions for Tweens (6th through 8th grade) 39 73 Jul 01, 2010 07:45AM  


Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Jerry to Goodreads.