And a lot of people, from the west and east side, are not happy with the situation. The only problem is, Maniac is white, and Amanda’s family is black. Eventually, her family invites Maniac to stay with them, and everything is wonderful. He sleeps wherever he needs to until he runs into Amanda, from the east side of Hector, and borrows a book from her. This is how he got the nickname “Maniac” by running all the time. One day, at a school play, Jeffrey hears their shouting and decides to start running-and he doesn’t stop. He had to be raised by his aunt and uncle, who never got along. Summary: Jeffrey Magee’s parents were killed in a car accident. Reader’s Annotation: They say Maniac Magee can run faster than anyone, that he was born in a dumpster, the he untied the knot. I think that juveniles reading this book would hopefully pick up on this theme, which maybe a little cheesy, but is heart-warming nonetheless. It was obvious that the author wanted to show both good and bad people on each side of town, and the random introduction of the Watson’s on the white side seemed to be a method to balance out the rather one-sided view on racism that we had seen thus far (the African American people were kind, the white people were mean.) However, this balance was achieved, which is no easy feat. Spinelli does a generally good job of characterizing people as individuals and not races, but sometimes this dynamic seems forced. The theme of the book is centered on racial tension in the south, and Maniac’s intentions to put a stop to it. Characterization of the peripheral characters is also given through this all knowing third person narrative, as we learn a little more about home lives through the every day actions of many of the character before they come into contact with Maniac. He doesn’t even notice that his very presence on the black side of town is causing tension, something that only the narrator points out until Maniac is confronted with the prejudice directly. We see that Maniac is neutral and nonjudgmental, as he didn’t even notice the stark difference in the two sides of town, the black and the white side. The effect is a somewhat unreliable narration, but it also has its credibility in being told closely through Maniac’s eyes. The narration is told in the third person which lends itself to an urban legend tone: “They say Maniac Magee was born in a dump.” Though the author claims to know the truth, he also warns us not to get the “facts mixed up with the truth” while reading this story. ISBN: 2-2Īnalysis: I’m going to discuss narration,characterization and theme of this title.
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