Maniac Magee

There are ten Pickwell children, and at dinnertime each day, Mrs. Pickwell opens her back screen door and lets out a distinctive whistle which all the children recognize. They come running in to...

As the other educator points out, Maniac and Grayson share a father-son relationship. Grayson is also a mentor and a male role model to Maniac. When Maniac discovers that Grayson played in the...

Amanda and Maniac have an argument when he determines to leave the Beale's house because he feels he is causing them problems. Maniac is white and the Beales are black, and there are some who do...

Unfortunately, readers are not given the specific amount of time that it took Maniac Magee to untie the incredible Cobble's Knot. The only thing that you could say for sure is that it took Maniac...

What this rather icky episode demonstrates is the sheer folly of the idea of racial supremacy. The McNabs live in a state of conquerable squalor, in a ramshackle house infested with roaches that...

At the end of the book, Maniac is invited to stay with the Beales, and the reader gets the sense that he will accept the invitation and find some stability there, at least for awhile. Indeed,...

Two Mills is a town that is divided into East End and West End. The dividing line is Hector street, and Hector street has an east side and a west side. It's as if there is an "invisible chalk line"...

Jeffery Lionel Magee earns the nickname Maniac Magee because of his unconventional, reckless lifestyle and memorable accomplishments, which have become legendary in the racially divided town of Two...

When Piper invited Maniac to his birthday party, he agrees on one condition. He has a “zany” idea. He tells them he will come if he can bring someone. The someone he has in mind is Mars Bar....

Maniac slept in the deer pen at the Elmwood Park Zoo for the first few nights he was in Two Mills. Maniac ran away from home after his parents died and he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle...

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 5. This is early in the book, and the purpose of this chapter and sequence is to continue building the legend that is Maniac Magee when he first...

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 5 of Maniac Magee. This is another chapter that is dedicated to establishing the mythical figure that is Maniac. One of the neighborhood boys,...

Grayson is from the West End. After Maniac runs away, he ends up in Two Mills. When Maniac meets Amanda, she asks him where he is from. She assumes he is from the West End, but he explains that...

In chapter 23, Grayson asks Maniac Magee, "What about school?" Magee's reply is quite defensive and macho, telling Grayson that he's not going and that they can't make him go if they can't find...

Maniac Magee stopped going to school when he ran away from his aunt and uncle's house. He still loved learning even though he did not attend school. Maniac especially loved to read. Grayson...

I wish that I could give you a definitive, specific date to answer this question; however, that is not possible. Some sources state that the events within the story are taking place in the early...

The answer to this question isn't 100% straightforward. The text doesn't explicitly explain why Maniac turns down the offer from Mars Bar. We just see Maniac struggling with the offer and finally...

In Chapter 27, Maniac teaches his friend Grayson to read by acting as his own personal dedicated teacher, starting with the alphabet and moving Grayson slowly up until he can read words, then...

Readers should look to chapters 1, 44, and 45 for this answer. Maniac is called in to help save Russell in chapter 44, and the chapter ends with Maniac seeing the bridge and walking away. He...

Maniac is fascinated with Amanda’s book and keeps it to reread. Amanda keeps her whole library in a suitcase. Maniac is very impressed when he sees all of the books. He asks Amanda to borrow a...

The biggest difference between Maniac and Grayson is that Manic is a kid and Grayson is an old man. Despite this, the two become good friends. Grayson also does not know how to read, something...

Because he is essentially homeless, Maniac Magee pretty much eats whatever he can get his hands on. His most favorite food is Tastykake butterscotch Krimpets, and, oddly, he is allergic to pizza....

Maniac invites Mars Bar to the birthday party in order to teach him about white people. He also wants to educate white people about black people because he realizes that discrimination is rampant...

The "pillbox" makes its appearance in chapter 39. Maniac discovers that the McNabs are building something that they call the "pillbox" in their house. It's a fortress or bunker of sorts. The plan...

The whole novel has a legendary, mythical tone to it: the narrator describes Maniac's actions as though the boy were a figure from tall tales, like Paul Bunyan. So, we can find hyperbole featuring...

Manic is blind to racism and seeing color. Race is very significant in Two Mills. If you are white, you live on the West End and you generally stay on the West End with your own kind. If you are...

Maniac actually makes a series of deals with Russell and Piper in order to get them to attend school. He begins by "promising to show them the shortcut to Mexico on Saturday" if they go...

There is not a lot of text devoted to the specifics about Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee's physical appearance. Here are about the only two descriptions of Maniac Magee. The first one is when he arrives...

Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee loves many things about his new life with the Beale family in the East End. 1. He loves that Mrs. Beale gets him a new pair of sneakers. Maniac loves to run, and his old...

Technically, Grayson lives in a dormitory-style room at the YMCA, but the important place associated with him and Maniac in the story is a baseball equipment room. At first, Maniac does what...

Chapter 25 is not exactly a happy chapter in this book. Most of the chapter is taken up with Grayson telling Maniac Magee stories from his earlier days as a minor league pitcher. Some of the...

The encyclopedia is ripped to shreds to send a message to the Beales and Maniac. Amanda’s library is her most prized possession, and the encyclopedia’s volume A is the crown jewel. She wants to...

While Maniac Magee is a relatively easy-going, kind adolescent, his decision to live with the Beales on the East End creates tension in the black community. The town of Two Mills is racially...

After an old man named Grayson discovers Maniac living in a buffalo pen, he invites Maniac to live with him on the third floor of the YMCA and in the band shell, which is the baseball equipment...

Both the Pickwells and the Beales are large, intact family units. The Pickwells include the parents, ten children, a baby, paternal grandparents and one great-grandparent, while the Beale...

Right from the start of the story, readers are told that Maniac Magee doesn't go to school. It's a well known enough fact that grade school girls have a chant about it. Ma-niac, Ma-niac He's so...

The first book that Grayson read cover to cover was The Little Engine That Could. Accordingly, Maniac Magee didn't help Grayson at all. We are told that the latter made an almost superhuman effort...

Jeffrey Lionel Magee, who is affectionately referred to as Maniac Magee, is a legend throughout the racially divided town of Two Mills, Pennsylvania. Maniac Magee is a wandering orphan who is...

Maniac Magee humiliates Mars Bar by taking a bite of his candy bar and then winning a race where he is running backwards. Maniac Magee and Mars Bar had a rocky start to their relationship. Mars...

Maniac’s address with Grayson is 101 Band Shell Boulevard. Maniac is obsessed with having an address. Ever since his parents died and he ran away from his aunt and uncle, he has wanted a real...

Lionel Magee (aka Maniac) lost his parents when they died in a traffic accident in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania. The trolley they were on ran into the Schulkill River. Everyone on board drowned. He...

Maniac pretends that Giant John McNab once pitched him the "stopball" because he doesn't want John to be disgraced in front of his little brothers. Giant John had been known as "the fearsome...

Two major events are the race with Mars Bar and Amanda’s book being destroyed. Maniac Magee is very episodic, meaning that the book is really a series of loosely connected events. Two that can be...

Maniac won his race with Mars Bar running backwards, which was insulting to his opponent. Maniac just did not understand what he was getting into when he met Mars Bar. He didn’t realize that the...

Maniac doesn’t want to go to Mars Bar’s house because he has been moving from home to home, but he realizes he belongs with the Beales. Maniac Magee has been homeless since he ran away from his...

Maniac is always moving around from place to place. It's no wonder that one of his greatest desires is to find a place that he can call home. After losing not one but two families, Maniac winds up...

Shortly after Maniac Magee conquers the infamous Cobble's Knot, the surrounding crowd begins to cheer him on, and confetti is thrown into the air in celebration of his achievement. As Mr. Cobble...

The first unusual thing about the baseball game in chapter 7 is the pitcher, John McNab. McNab, a twelve-year-old "giant," strikes out sixteen batters in a row "to set a new Two Mills L. L....

Readers should look to chapter 3 for evidence on this question. Chapter 3 begins with Maniac coming across Amanda Beale. Maniac sees Amanda walking down the street, and he assumes that she is...

Maniac wants Mars Bar to see that blacks and whites are the same, and the plan is successful because Mars Bar has a good time. Maniac’s idea to bring Mars Bar to Piper’s birthday party is to show...