Jason’s Personal novel study Maniac Magee and comparisons with it to the Boy from The Quilt

M ain P oints Main Points are the biggest parts in a book, they show what the author is trying to say and if you understand it, you’ll understand a big part of the story. Main points in Maniac Magee were: How he was not always “Maniac” and how his life was before he arrived at his new hometown, Two Mills. How he met his new temperate family and how he got along with everyone in the family even though they were “East Enders”. When the “block party” lead to a disastrous end forcing Jeffery Maniac Magee to feel all the blame and leave the Beale house. Eventually though, he comes back. The next day, one of the biggest events in the book happens. Maniac is told from Amanda Beale about how everyone would like him and the people who already liked him would like him more only if he untied the infamous Kobbles Knot, a nightmare ensues. Maniac meets his first enemy, John McNab Who is determined to get back at maniac with his gang he calls “The Cobras”, John holds this grudge all because Maniac was able to break his pitching strike streak at the end of a little league game.

M ain P oints (continued) Maniac leaves the Beale house and finds refugee in one of his old homes, the buffalo pen in the zoo and meets the old park caretaker, Grayson. Together they celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and Maniac teaches the old man to read! But sadly… Maniac has no choice but to leave his new home and retreat to a old, lifeless army reenactment shelter, even in the new home, January’s cold hands strangle Maniacs emotions, and surprisingly, meets his archenemies two brothers, “Screecher” and “Missing Tooth” AKA Piper and Russel After the conclusion that Giant John McNab actually did strike out Maniac a day after the Little League incident with the “Stop Ball”. With Giant John not even knowing what Maniac is saying, dumbly nods his head and Maniac now lives in the McNab residence.

M ain P oints (continued) Maniac just can’t seem to adjust to his new life with the two trouble hungry boys, the Cobras giving daily visits to the McNab residence. He also knew he did not like anything about the sick smell that wasn’t the rotting cabbage or turds that littered the house but the pillbox. After a Maniac invites Mars Bar, another one of his rivals, to Pipers birthday, the end results shows how racist and uncaring the McNabs are and both leave early and yet again, Maniac has no home to go to. I think that’s enough hints in the book, you people should also take a go at the book, it shows how a boy rises from losing what was most important to him to finding a new meaning in life in a long bumpy road of racism, misunderstanding, and fastballs.

Connections Maniac Magee Both move to new places, Maniac moves to the Beale house, Grayson’s place and the McNab residence. They both think about their parents, like how Maniac thinks about his parents whenever he goes near the Schuykill river where they died. At their new homes, they both still do chores and work, in all of maniacs homes, he helps clean or do chores. Both stories mention war, like how the McNabs purpose was to protect themselves with the “Pillbox” from the “eastenders” or blacks and having fake guns. The Boy The Boy moves to his grandmothers house. When the boy is with his grandmother, he also thinks about his mom at Chicago and his dad at war. During his stay with his grandmother, the boy helps carry the milk buckets and chase cats of the cows back The war comes up many times in the story about how men are wasting their lives for a meaningless cause and how devastating it was to Kristina near the end of the book.

Pictures of Past Publications

AND……. That concludes my power point! I defiantly recommend this book to anyone wanting a good mature yet humorous story. Sites Used: and the book itself.