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
The first person who talks with Maniac is Amanda Beale, and that happens by accident. It’s around eight in the morning, and Maniac sees Amanda carrying a suitcase and figures she’s a runaway like him, so he says, “Hi.” She’s suspicious at first, wondering what this white kid is doing in the East End, but she’s also a friendly person, so she says “Hi,” too. When Jeffrey asks if she’s running away, she laughs and laughs. At last she tells Jeffrey that she’s just going to school. She opens up the suitcase to reveal dozens of books crammed inside.
Jeffrey/Maniac is drawn to people who, like him, seem to be looking for a home. This is also the first hint in the story of the extreme racial divisions in the town—it’s notable that a white kid would even speak to a black kid.
Themes
Jeffrey kneels in the middle of the crowd of rushing students to admire the books. There are all kinds, including an encyclopedia volume, the one for the letter A. Amanda proudly explains that it’s her library. Then she suddenly realizes that the street is emptying and she’s going to be late for school. Jeffrey offers to carry her suitcase, but she snatches it away from him.
Jeffrey hasn’t attended school for at least a year, and books are a luxury for him. Though Amanda is friendly to Jeffrey, his gesture toward carrying her suitcase makes Amanda uncomfortable—both because she’s protective of her books and because it would be conspicuous in this racially divided town.
Themes
Amanda asks who Jeffrey is—she knows he isn’t from the East End, like her. Two Mills, after all, is “pretty much divided,” with black people living in the East End, and white people in the West End. Jeffrey says that he’s originally from Bridgeport, across the river, but he’s not from anywhere in particular right now—maybe here.
Jeffrey asks why Amanda is carrying a suitcase full of books to school. She explains that her little brother and sister love to color on everything, and her dog, Bow Wow, loves to chew on everything, so she just carries her library to school each day to keep it safe. As the bell rings and Amanda hurries toward school, Jeffrey jogs alongside, begging to borrow one of her books.
Jeffrey continues to show interest in Amanda, eager for friendship as much as for books.
Themes
Get the entire Maniac Magee LitChart as a printable PDF.
Amanda glares at the “grungy” stranger, wondering why he isn’t bothering some white girl in the West End instead—yet she doesn’t walk away. Jeffrey promises that if she lends him a book, he’ll be sure to return it. Amanda grudgingly gives him her address, but she points out that “you can’t come there. You can’t even be here.” But as the second bell rings, Amanda, in a panic, grabs a random book from the suitcase, hurls it in Jeffrey’s direction, and runs into school. Jeffrey gratefully picks up the book, and Amanda Beale is late to school for the first and only time in her life.
Amanda understandably questions Jeffrey’s motives, and she also takes for granted that her neighborhood is off limits to a white kid like Jeffrey. Yet something about him intrigues her, and she entrusts him with one of her precious books.
Themes
