henry below

This book is great but i want it to get more interesting. I hope Grayson will go back and do something in the MLB. Also i think if Grayson gets rich from the MLB he will let maniac live with him. Then Maniac will be happy because he has an address.

Grayson-Maniac Magee

I think Grayson is an interesting character. He was a pitcher in the Minors, and yet he seems to think that isn't anything special. For example, he says "I ain't got no stories." If he played in the Minors, of course he has stories! Another example is how, on p. 91, he says that he could never make it to the Majors. Don't worry, Grayson, few people can. Making it to the Minors is a huge accomplishment. Maybe, after he played there for a long time, it ceased to seem special.

Olivia

Maniac Magee

I like this book because each characters have each personality.
Also it have new character in few chapters so it makes me interesting.
He met Grayson who was baseball player, he is only one Magee can stay now but I guess he will run away from grayson like he is always doing

byK.N

Maniac Magee is starting out to be a pretty good book. I like all the snapshots and the characters with their unique personalities. One thing I don't like about Maniac Magee is how it's so vague like when Maniac first met Grayson and it had the paragraph about the fish and how he had threw it back out. It doesn't make any sense.
-Erin

wow I cant believe that grayson made it that far. to make that far is still amazing! and he said that he had no stories, gosh. i wonder if maniac will start to live with grayson... or if he will run away again. i wonder if maniac will end up trying a sport like track and field. he is fast. will it somehow be like crash???

Declan S.

Maniac Magee!

What next with Grayson!? He's absolutely full of surprises! First we find out he used to live with the Beals. Then we find out that he used to play baseball and almost made it into the major leag! Anyway,I thought he told Maniac that he wouldn't be staying with him, but then Maniac did end up staying with him. How come? The question I've been thinking about the most is that, what would happen if another zoo employee had found him sleeping with the buffalo, what would they do? What would happen to Maniac? Would they kick him out of the zoo, let him stay with them, or just let him do what he was doing, sleeping with buffalo? But most of all, will Maniac keep running into strangers? A prediction that I have is that something sad will happen to Grayson. Maybe they'll both end up sleeping with the buffalo?

Maniaic Magee

Recently Magee has made another friend named Grayson the supposingly "no story" man.
But it turns out Grayson does have a story and it includes he one thing maniac had "destroyed" McNab ( A bully ) in ... baseball. But alot still remains secret, does Grayson have a family and if he does how come he doesnt talk about them, will the Beales Family soon come back into the story, how come Maniac turned down the best thing in the world , a home.

Mathias
Kools

Maniac magee has found a new friend hopefully one to stay. his name is Grayson. A former minor league baseball player who sadly didnt make it to the majors. now maniac is living in a baseball equipment room and spending the day grayson at the zoo setting up fences.

I think maniac will find that he is related to grayson in some way or form a lifetime bond with him. i dont think that maniac will live in the baseball room anymore but live with grayson in his room at the "Y".

BEN

I think that the Beals's are extremely scared right now. They will likely call 911 and make sure everyone is on the lookout for Maniac. I am also worried that now that Maniac is gone, Hester and Lester will go back to being the troublemakers they always were. As or Maniac, I think that he might try to teach Grayson to do stuff he could have learned in school. Maybe Grayson will eventually be able to read and write simple things! I don't think he will go much farther than that though because Maniac will probably need to leave him soon. He always seems to just leave.

Simon

Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee is getting better. I have some questions. I wonder what Grayson was first like when he saw Maniac asleep, if I was Grayson I would try to find Maniac a home instead of having him sleep in the equipment room. I think Grayson is really nice though,he bought Maniac 30 butterscotch krimpets and he didn't even know Maniac that long. He also took Maniac to the YMCA to get him showered and in fresh clothes. I wonder if Maniac will live with Grayson till the end of the book. I also wonder when Maniac will start school, I think that Grayson will take him to school. I wonder if the Beals are looking for him or worrying about Maniac? I geuss i'll just have to read to find out!
~NL~

Maniac Magee isn't the best book ever. But it does leave me with a lot of questions. For example on page 70. At the top of the page in the first sentence it says "They brought out the Knot and hung it from the flagople". What do they mean by 'Knot' is it soem kind of flag.
Also in almost every chapter ther is a new character and they are all mean to Maniac.
~VS

Maniac Magee

I think when Grayson was asking about if black people do this and if black people do that, what he really wanted to say was, "why are you living with black people and your white?" I also think that Grayson will explain the difference, and what he "should"have been taught. Grayson, I thought was also being very unrealistic by asking "do blacks eat cake?" Lastly I think Grayson will step in and change Maniac's interesting but great personality.
~KM

I wonder what the Beales are doing right now? I think they are worried sick and now Hester and Lester will ruin the house again and Amanda will be the most sad. Grayson does not get how blacks are just the same as whites but they only have a different skin color. Why won't Grayson tell Maniac about his childhood? He doesn't seem like the right owner for Maniac. I wonder if Maniac really will go to school. I bet he would love it but when it would be time to go home he would get all sad that he can not stay there forever. I hope Maniac goes back to the Beales house in some point of the story.
*CC*

Maniac Magee

In the book it says that Grayson looked at him for a while with a mixture of puzzelment and recogition, as though the fish he had landed might be the one he had thrown away before. What does this mean. JG

Manic Magee

I think the fact that Grayson used to live with the Beals will play a big part in later on in "Maniac Magee"! Do the Beals even know that Grayson works were he works? Do they even know that Maniac/Grayson is he still alive? Are the Beals searching for Maniac like crazy? Did Grayson run away too? these are all questions the the author, Spinelli has left us asking. I've noticed that Spinelli, as an author tends to end most paragraphs on a cliff-hanger, or at least that's what it seems like to me. This is in someways good and bad. A prediction that I have is that I think Maniac will keep running into these friendly strangers who ask Maniac all these questions, and are surprised to find that this talented little kid who is white has drank from the same cup as a black kid, lived white blacks, and even taken showers with blacks. Until on day in this book Maniac nowhere was as good as the Beal's house. Maybe, we will just have to keep reading to find out.

I wish Maniac didn't leave the Beals. His reason made sense but they loved him and were willing to make these sacrifices for him. I at least hope this family does not disappear from the book. I was really starting to like them. But I also hope Grayson and Maniac get along well. I think Maniac is going to discover something new and interesting about Grayson. I have really started to like this book, in the beginning I was not so sure because everything was confusing to me. But now it's starting to clear up. I think it is very interesting and can;t wait to read more!~AG~

Maniac Magee

Whats Maniac going to do now? Will he stay with Grayson? Well I think that he will. I looks like Grayson and Maniac have a lot in common. I've got a felling that Grayson has a dark past like Maniac because every time Maniac asks about Grayson's past Grayson always seems uncomfortable and changes the subject. All we know now is that Grayson wanted to be a baseball player, but what else? I'm eager to find out more.

Since Maniac is gone from the Beals what are the Beales doing now? Will they go looking for Maniac or will they not? I think that the Beales will go looking for Maniac because they way Amanda acted like last time when Maniac was gone a little while made Amanda feel terrible. The only problem is that if the Beales are going to be looking for Maniac is that will they find him? If they don't will everything go back the way it was with Hester and Lester crayoning the house and not wanting to take a bath? Who knows, but I think that Maniac is in worse trouble than he thinks he is.

~Melisa

maniac magee

i can't believe maniac has left the beals. he doesn't get that black and white people are different from each other. i think this new man was just lile maniac living with the beals, and he probly once was just like maniac. an orphin living on the streets. when maniac saw the riped book he probly thought that he was not welcome in the beals house. i think the beals are gonna go out looking for maniac. or if they think it's to much work with him around like scrubing off FISH BELLY and cooking his food. but i think that they are gonna go looking for maniac magee.

Butterscotch Krimpets and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson

Maniac Magee Post #3: Point of Confusion

"The old man just looked at him for awhile with mixture of puzzlement and recognition, as though the fish he had landed might be the same one he had thrown away long before. "Why?" he said.
Maniac felt why more than he knew why."
page 86, Maniac Magee by, Jerry Spinelli

This passage is a little confusing in many ways. When the author wrote, "the fish he had landed might be the same one he had thrown away long before", I think that Maniac might be the fish that Grayson landed . Maybe Grayson is comparing Maniac to himself because it's possible that Grayson might have been a runaway when he was little. Grayson is poor, so he can relate to Maniac in that way. I know that the author is being metaphorical. I also don't understand how you can feel without knowing why. I think that means when you feel something in your gut, but you can't describe it in words.
~JR

Maniac Magee

Does Maniac (Jeffery) go to school? And if he does go to school do the (Black ) kids give him a hard time? And who wrote go home fishbelly on the wall?

Passage From Maniac Magee

"For all the life of him, he couldn't figure out why these East Enders called themselves black. He kept looking and looking, and the colors he found were gingersnap and light fudge and dark fudge and acorn and butterrum and cinnamon and burnt orange. But never licorice, which, to him, was real black."

I like this passage because, the way I take it, is that he can't see the differences that others can see. It is good to think that people are all equal, but I think if he were taught about black and white, he would see the black, not acorn, but black. Also I kind of think this line tells us why he lives in the East End, he doesn't get it.

~Km

"The rest of the spectators watched Mainac poke and tug and pick at the knot. Never a big pull or yank, just his fingertips touchig and grazing and pecking away, like some little bird.
'What's he doing?' somebody said.
'What's taking so long?'
'He gonna do it or not?'
After an hour, except for a few more finger-size loops, all Maniac had to show for his trouble were the flakes of knot crust that coverd the table."
Maniac Magee By, Jerry Spinelli Page 71

I like this passage because Maniac's stratagy is interesting as he takes the knot apart. He didn't try to untangle the knot by grabbing it and yanking the string apart. He did it in an organized sort of way. First he picked all of the crust off the string. Then he tried to find the other end of the string. Finally, once he found the other end of the string, he started to untangle it. In the end, he untangled the famous "Cobble's knot."

If I were the baby buffalo, I would have been REALLY surprised. A creature with only hair on its head. But I wonder why Maniac chooses to live like a hobo. Maybe it's a part of him.I also wonder how he is so polite. Most runaways are kinda rude and have no manners. I felt really bad for Amanda when Maniac found out her book got ruined. Maniac Magee is turning out to be a good book.
-Erin

when maniac McGee walks on a line of sadness after realizing what he made other people do from there color but maniac realized and left and lived at the zoo. when a man helps him somewhere safe (a little) he gives him food and makes sure he is ok and doesn't care that he was in the buffalo's pen.

by sam

Beales- I think the Beales are so kind that they let Jefferey Magee to live in their house.

Maniac Magee- I think he wants the freedom and he is unique.

Shine LEE

Maniac Magee

I am starting to like Maniac Magee. I think he was good at untying knots because he runs a lot so his sneakers would get untied so he would have to tie and untie his sneakers a lot. I think Maniac should stay with the Beals even if some kids are mean to him. I think Manic should stay with the Beals because he would probaly die if he was living outside in the winter. I like the passage " Manic did the last thing any one exspected: he lay down on the table, the knot hanging above him like a small hairy planet." I liked that passage because I could picture a boy laying on a wooden table with a knot hanging over his face. I can't wait to read more!
~NL~

Magee seemed to only get himeself into more trouble by winning that prize for untangling
"The Knot". I think Mars Bar, The Cobras, and McNab are going to continue to give Magee a hard time and now an even harder time with the certificate.

Mathias
Kools

Maniac Magee is a very interesting book. I think that just like with the Beals's, something will happen and Maniac will leave Grayson too. I also think that Butterscotch Krimpets will also be important to the story. They seem to be mentioned a lot and I think they will have a significant role in the book later. I predict that Maniac will eventually go back to Two Mills and do something to bring the two sides together. Somehow.

Simon

Mimic

Mimic

Be the same

A wolf in a sheep's

Costume is not tame

Mimic

Copy you

I like your drawing

Can I draw it too?

Mimic

A mime

Made fun of his swagger

I gave him a dime

Mimic

by Olivia

I like how Maniac ran away, and everyone was frantic, then came back. Why did he come back? If he had been stopped from running away once, why did he do it again? What are the Beales thinking? Are they as frantic as the first time? Or do they think he will come back again?

Olivia

Maniac is awesome. The last chapter shows it doesn't matter what age you are. Maniac beat all those older kids. He didn't just beat them at stickball and football he owned them.

An old man shows up at a block party and yells maniacs name. after saying it multiple times maniac finds a black mans finger 2 milimeters away from his face telling him to go home. After studdering he finally says i am home...... when he gets back to the Beales the two littlest kids hester and lester say i want to go for a run with you but the opposite way he usally goes, out of town. then amanda says im going to the store want to come? but the the store isnt open. then he finds mrs. beale scrubbing the house with the yellow bucket and sponge the F already removed ISH BELLY GO HOME...

Ben

Mimic is always copying,

Relying on others ideas

She could never walk her own walk

She could never talk her own talk

Mimic can be funny or mean

Hopefully, she won't make a scene!

Now what?

Maniac uncrumpled the page, flattened it out as best he could. How could he return the book to Amanda in this condition? He couldn't. But he had to. It was hers. Judging from that morning, she was pretty finicky about hers books. What would make her madder- to not get the book back at all, or to get it back with a page ripped out? Maniac cringed at both prospects.~ page 38 Jerry Spinelli

I like this passage because Amanda doesn't get mad at all and because it ended getting Mainac Magee a home that he loves!!!

"Never enough is it Whitey? Just want more and more. Won't even leave us our water in the street. Come down to see the Bojangles. Come on to the zoo. The monkey house."~Maniac Magee~Jerry Spinelli

I think this is an important and confusing passage in the story. I think it is important because this is Maniac's first glance at the fact that he is DIFFERENT. He was light skinned, them dark. He was not liked by some people. Mars Bar, John McNab, and now this old man telling him to get out. I think it is confusing because I don't get what he means by "Come down to see the Bojangles. Come on to the zoo. The monkey house."~AG

Maniac Magee is a very good book, but at some points it leaves me hanging. But it is the perfect book to make predictions on every chapter.
One of my predictions is that Maniac will start to become part of the community, because he is white.

Victoria S.

Maniac Magee

Jeffry (Maniac Magee) is different in the east End. He's white and everybody else is black. He doesn't see the difference, but other people do. The blacks want the white OUT..., but why? He has great talent and is very kind. Maybe they only like Jeffry for his talent, not himself. Now that they know, I think that they want the runt out. I bet they are going to do anything to get Jeffry out of East End, starting by doing the meanest thing, by writing FISHBELLY on his house. What will he do to stop this, or will he do anything?

~Melisa

Maniac Magee

Last time we read, we all found out that Maniac is blind in a way. Not phisicly thought, he just dosn't see that he is different from everybody else ... very different. Then an old brown man came up to Maniac and told him to leave. I wonder if this will help him figure out their differences. Maybe Maniac will help everybody in thier town figure out that it is not so bad to be different? Did Maniac's actual parents believe in the seperation of black and white people ... who knows?

MANIAC MAGEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$

maniac magee finaly has a home, but things are geting a little strange...like he is alerject to pizza! i found out that maniac realy likes icing. in church maniac and his almost bro and sis joined maniac in church saying alluah! amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... maniac has an adress now 782 sycamore street. some messed up person painted FISH BELLY on there wall amandas mom only got off the f before maniac got home so it said ISH BELLY. whoever the messed up kid that painted FISH BELLY one the wall is going to probley get pounded by amanda. i think mars bar or the man who called him names did it.

-zach

Maniac Magee Post #2: Point of Confusion

“Mrs. Beale was out front with a yellow bucket, soapsuds spilling over the brim, a stiff bristle brush in her hand. She was scrubbing, the house, the brick wall, scrubbing furiously at the chalk, grunting with the effort, the cheeks wet. He had been way too early, way too fast. Only the F had been scrubbed away. The rest was quite easy to read, the tall yellow letters the same color as the scrub bucket:
ISHBELLY GO HOME” Maniac Magee-Jerry Spinelli

I’m sort of confused about this passage. One thing that I’m confused about is when it said “He had been way too early, way too fast.” What was too fast? What was too early? Another thing that I’m wondering is why someone would call Maniac "Fishbelly" and tell him to go home? I think that Maniac had gotten up too early and the Beale family didn't want him to see the mean message, but I'm not sure.
~JR

I am now thinking that Maniac Magee just got a whole lot better.The Beale's are being so nice to Maniac.What I can not believe is that Maniac is allergic to PIZZA!!!I can't last life without even one bite of pizza a month.
Amanda wasn't mad at Maniac at all when she found out about the torn book! I'm glad she took care of those bullies. It was a little gross how Maniac took a bath with Hester and Lester! I bet Maniac is liking his life a lot better.

*CC*

maniac magee!

it was nice how the beals took maniac in when they found out he didn't have a home. he made the mistake of telling amandas dad that he lived in the west end. i like when it said that maniac had red blotches on him. i can't believe that maniac is alerject to pizza. if i was i would probely die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I liked when the Beales took Maniac in. It was really nice of them to let him live with them. I thought it was really weird when the Beales and Maniac discovered he was allergic to pizza! I feel a little bad for him though. You can't eat pizza! I also liked how Amanda knew that Maniac didn't rip her book. Really nice. Maniac Magee is a pretty good book after all.
-Erin

I liked how the story said:

'Maniac was covered in blotches - round, red blotches, all shiny from the bath water. They looked something like little pepperonis' right before the Beales found out Maniac was allergic to pizza.

Olivia

I really liked when the beals let maniac in their house and maniac was really helping them out and maniac really helped mrs.beals with hester and lester to take a bath.



by sam

I really like the chapter in maniac magee that we just read. I found it really interesting how the beales took jeffery into to there house.
I really liked when it said " sitting there in the tub one black boy, one black girl and one medium white boy."

Ben

Maniac Magee

I think the Maniac Magee will still be very interesting through out the whole entire book. I like how you just cant put the book down. It's so addicting to read. I like how the book grabs you and pulls you into this imaginary world that keeps forming in your mind, just like a continues movie.

BY: LILY MURPHY

Maniac Magee

I think that so far I'm going to like Maniac Magee. It is fun filled with many grabbing sentences that make you just want to read more. I like how the book makes a movie in my mind because it makes me understand the book more. There are many characters and still some are unknown. One thing that I really liked about the book is how Maniac Magee (Jeffrey) is so mysterious and curious, he is very interesting and I'm eager to know more. I can't wait until we read more of the book!

~Melisa Kreismanis

Passage that I like most in this story

Maniac Magee catched a book which borrowed from Amanda with one hand but then one page ripped from a book when Cobras chased him in a baseball field, so I thought Magee will give her paper which he wrote a page that ripped out, they will become friends.
-by Charlie Nam/Ki hyun Nam

Maniac magee gets caught up with a mean group of kids or the"cobras" and gets in a run down with them without knowing he enters the west side of town kids start laughing, why? the west side of town is where the blacks live. Mars bar, the kid with the biggest stare gets in a "staredown" with maniac when he rips the book out of maniacs hand he takes control of it. maniac rips it out of his hand and gets everything but one page...........

I think in the next chapter of Maniac Amanda is going to get really mad for ripping the book. Then he will feel bad and try to make it up to her. But she is not going to forgive him. Next Mars Bar will come and find him. Last he will get away from Mars Bar and run into the good pitcher

Maniac Magee

Wow!! i think this book is great. But i have questions:

1} Where does he sleep?

2} What else does he eat? (eventually the person at the zoo will notice that there is not enough food)

3} What will he do in the winter? (floppy shoes, short sleeve shirt, no home)

4} How will he escape Mars Bars and the Cobras

I also think that someone like the the Pickwells will end up taking Jeffery to their home. Because if someone sees him they might feel bad and offer to take him to their home. If I was and adult I would offer to give him food and shelter.

Maniac Magee

The past few chapters of Maniac Magee have been mostly about poor little Maniac getting chased, teased or mocked. It's almost as though the whole town knows who he is already in that point of time before he becomes a legend. That is why I think the unfriendly characters he has met saw how fast and talented he was and got a case of green with envy. So far, we do know for a fact, that John McNab, as well as his other Cobra buddies, saw how talented little Maniac is. I predict that he won't end up getting beat by whomever he runs into ... do you?

Maniac Magee

Last time we read McNab and the Cobras chased Magee to the boundary between the east and west end. Although that was the end of the chase Magee was still in trouble when he ran into Mars Bar. In the end Magee survived with only one catch, he had got one of the pages ripped out from his borrowed book.My prediction is that McNab isnt going to give up yet and that Amanda will refer to Magee as "Just like her little sister".

Mathias
Kools

I wonder why people make up rumors about Manic and how they relate to Maniac. For instance, they say he was born in a dump, has a 8 inch cockroach on a string,rats stand guard over his head, and that his hart is like a sofa spring and his stomach, a cereal box. Supposedly, when you put salt on the ground a few blocks farther he is a s slow a s a normal person. What does all this mean? How do they match up with Maniac's personality?

~AG~

Maniac Magee

Right now Maniac Magee isn't the best book I have ever read. It confuses me a little because the chapters tell you about all different things without giving you a lot of description. Also I feel like there is not much of a story theme. But I do like that the author gives you a ton of figurative language. I am really picturing the book in my mind. I think in a little while the book's confusion and vivid language will come together and make the book a really good one.
-KM

The Book Maniac Magee leaves me hanging. Each chapter just ends. I start to have so many predictions. One of the predictions is Maniac will be found by his Aunt and Uncle.
Also I thought that Maniac will find friends, I thought this because since people are being so rude to him now I thought that people will come through and realize he has certain qualities that other people have, and that he is just like one of them.

~ Victoria~

A passage that I like in Maniac Magee

"At last McNab was on the mound, fingering the ball in his glove, a demon's gleam in his eye. He wound up, fired, the ball headed for the plate and - what's this? - a leg ball, - it's got legs - long legs pinwheeling toward the plate. It wasn't a ball at all, it was a frog, and McNab was on the mound cackling away, and the kid at the plate was bug-eyed. He'd never - nobody'd ever - tried to hit a fastfrog before."
Page 25, 26; Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli

This passage interested me because I could really picture the scene in my head because of the descriptive language. I felt like I was at the baseball field and the thought of the frog heading toward homeplate made me laugh. I thought that the author was trying to slow down the moment when he said, "a leg ball, - it's got legs - long legs pinwheeling toward the plate." As I read, I felt like the author was giving hints that the ball was actually a frog. I felt the story developing as I read the words.
~JR

I think Maniac will make a lot of enemies through out the book. John McNab and Mars Bar already hate him; and I think Amanda will to after she sees the book. She likes her books a lot and will probably not tolerate a torn, crumpled up page. Also, I remember from the beginning it said something about two girls spinning a jump rope. One might be from the East End while the other from the West End. Maniac will probably bring the two parts of town together so they can be friends.

Simon

Maniac Magee

I think Maniac Magee is going to be a good book, I like how in each chapter Maniac meets a new charecter. I wonder if Maniac will ever go back to Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan. Mabey Maniac will end up making a friend and he would live with them. Will Maniac go to school like the other kids? Will John Mcnab ever get back at Maniac Magee?

By, NL

maniac magee!!!!!!!!!!!$

maniac magee goes onto the west end and gets in a little fight with mares bar. they say that he can stop traffic for 10 minutes while he crosses the street. maniac met a black girl when he went over in the west end she gave him a book to borrow when she got so mad with him. maniac reads the book every day. i wonder if he is ever going to retern the book or keep it.


zach

Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee is a little boring right now but my guess is that it will get better because I think right now it's at the rising action. I predict Maniac will find a home or someone to live with. I also think Maniac will tell Amanda about the ripped book and Maniac will be terribly sorry for what happend to Amanda's book.

Colin