Jerry Spinelli: Jerry Spinelli won the Newbery Medal for Maniac Magee, the sixth of his more than fifteen acclaimed books for young readers. Growing up, he played no fewer than five different sports, including football, track, and basketball. He wanted to be a shortstop in the majors long before it occurred to him to be a writer. Crash came out of his desire to include the beloved Penn Relays of his home state of Pennsylvania in a book. And, of course, to show the world a little bit about athletes and what makes some of them tick. Jerry Spinelli lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Read More.