JERRY SPINELLI is the author of many novels for young readers, including Dead Wednesday , The Warden's Daughter; Stargirl ; Love, Stargirl ; Milkweed ; Crash ; Wringer ; and Maniac Magee , winner of the Newbery Medal; along with Knots in My Yo-Yo String , the autobiography of his childhood. A graduate of Gettysburg College, he lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, poet and author Eileen Spinelli.