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 and Maniac celebrate Thanksgiving together in Maniac’s baseball room. Maniac cooks a chicken in his toaster oven, and there’s a range of side dishes, including SpaghettiOs and butterscotch Krimpets. As they sit down to eat, Maniac remembers silent Thanksgivings with Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan. He says grace, thanking God for the best Thanksgiving he’s ever had, for the warmth they enjoy, and “for our own little family here.” He also prays for the Beales.
Maniac’s new life, even though it isn’t a conventional household, is more of a home than what he had with Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, because there’s genuine love and fellowship here.
Themes
After the meal, they listen and dance to polka music on the record player that Grayson brought over. That night, Grayson digs out some paint, and Maniac goes outside and happily paints a number on the door. He christens their home “101 Band Shell Boulevard.”
Just as he admired the house number on 728 Sycamore Street at the Beales’, Maniac acknowledges the makeshift home they’ve created by giving it an unofficial address.
Themes
