Parents' Guide to Maniac Magee

The book title MANIAC MAGEE refers to a boy (really named Jeffrey), who is such a fast and impressive athlete that people start referring to him as a "maniac." When the story begins, Jeffrey, who's White, is living with his aunt and uncle because his parents died in an accident when the boy was only 3. Jeffrey's guardians don't get along with each other, though. In fact, they don't even speak to each other. One day, Jeffrey runs out of patience with them and literally takes off running. He winds up in Two Mills, a town that is divided between East Enders (Black residents) and West Enders (White ones). Both Black and White kids soon learn that Maniac can run and swing a bat faster than anyone. He makes friends on both sides of town, and is taken in by the Beale family, who are Black, where the household includes two loving parents, a girl named Amanda, who's Maniac's age, and her little brother and sister, Hester and Lester. Not all of the East Enders approve of Maniac living with the Beales, however, and Maniac feels terrible about bringing trouble to their door, so he runs away again, this time finding a home with an older man who warms to Maniac. Eventually, Maniac is on his own again, but a couple of needy children lead him back to Two Mills, and he tries to make sense, and peace, of the racial divide.