Maniac Magee by: Jerry Spinelli is a fictional novel. The main character Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee had a very pleasant and descent life at first. His life made a dramatic change when his parents were killed when their trolley crashed into a river. Because of this, Maniac had to move in with his aunt and uncle. They fought ALL the time, and this made Maniac run away, never to return. On his journey, Maniac stopped in a place called Two Mills, which was segregated. The first person he met was on his journey was a girl named Amanda Beale. She made a big contribution in his life throughout the story. Her family took him in when he had nothing. Maniac left the Beale residence and went back to sleeping in a den at the zoo. While he was there,a very cripple and old man,by the name of Grayson, took him in under his wing. This affected Maniac greatly. Soon Grayson died. This hurt Maniac in many ways that he could not imagine. As Maniac's journey came to a close, he inally had a permanent home which was one of the happiest moments of his life.