Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Maniac Magee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Myth, Reality, and Heroism
Racism
Love, Loss, and Home
Human Dignity, Connection, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Grayson buys Maniac a huge helping of Krimpets. Then he takes him to the Two Mills YMCA, where Grayson lives, so that Maniac can use the showers. Since Grayson’s spare clothes are way too big for Maniac, he takes Maniac to buy some new ones. Grayson questions Maniac about what he intends to do—what about school? Maniac explains that nobody can make him attend school if they can’t find him. Grayson looks at Maniac “with a mixture of puzzlement and recognition.”
Grayson continues to show care and concern for Maniac’s needs. Beyond that, Maniac’s defiant avoidance of school feels familiar to Grayson, suggesting that the two will find a deeper connection as time goes on.
Themes
When Grayson asks Maniac why he won’t go to school, Maniac can’t put the answer into words. It has to do with his lack of a home. All the other kids at school have homes to go to. Only Maniac would be stuck having one without the other. He tells Grayson that if Grayson tries to make him go to school, he’ll just run away.
