Eggs

As one of the most well-known authors of children’s literature, Jerry Spinelli has penned over 30 novels across a literary career lasting more than 40 years. His first novels were written for adults, but he faced many rejections. Eventually, Space Station Seventh Grade, which was originally written for adults as well, became his first published novel, and he then launched a successful career writing quirky, tender-hearted middle grade novels that address a range of serious topics that children may have to deal with in life. Many of his novels are bestsellers and award-winners, and he is particularly well-known for writing the critically acclaimed novel Maniac Magee, which won the Newbery Medal in 1991, establishing Spinelli as a significant player in the world of children’s literature.

For Eggs, the journey from initial idea to final publication proved to be a bit less linear than the planning of a standard novel. Spinelli recalls that he worked on the novel for a month but felt like he was getting nowhere. Discouraged by a peer’s observation that the manuscript still needed a lot of work, Spinelli temporarily shelved the project in favor of another idea, going on to publish Wringer (1997), which features Palmer, a troubled nine-year-old boy who dreads turning 10. Ten years later, Spinelli’s wife (also a writer of children’s literature) asked him about the unfinished manuscript for Eggs, inspiring him to revisit the project. Eggs was eventually published in 2007. During the 10 years that the manuscript had languished, unfinished, the world changed drastically, undergoing a barrage of social, cultural, and technological shifts. As a result, Eggs stands as a nostalgic remnant of an earlier era.

Spinelli’s original title for Eggs was Who Cares, an intentionally question-mark-free statement meant to convey the protagonists’ bitterness and deliver the message that it is important for children to seek out the people who really do care about them. This scrapped title survives several mentions throughout the novel, including the title of Part 5. As the main characters of Eggs, David and Primrose develop a tumultuous and almost sibling-like relationship that contains kindness and antagonism in equal measure. Their interactions contain echoes of Spinelli’s second novel, Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush?, which features siblings Megin and Greg and follows their lively sibling rivalry. Notably, Spinelli has drawn inspiration for such relationships by observing the interactions of his own children. His personal experience with children’s tumultuous, love-hate relationships is clearly displayed in this portrayal of David and Primrose, even though they are not actual siblings. As a whole, Jerry Spinelli’s journey with Eggs can be traced through many points in his career, from his earliest days of writing his second novel to the eventual publication of Eggs in 2007.