Maniac Magee: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Maniac Magee wasn’t born in a dump. He was actually born in an ordinary house, across the river from Two Mills, in Bridgeport. He also had an ordinary mother and father. One day, however, his parents left him with a babysitter. They were killed during the famous crash of the P & W high-speed trolley, when its drunken motorman drove the trolley off the trestle into the Schuylkill River below. Maniac was suddenly orphaned at three years old. But he wasn’t called Maniac back then—he was Jeffrey Lionel Magee.

Jeffrey went to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Dot and Dan hated each other but refused to get a divorce. By the time Jeffrey came along, they were neither speaking nor sharing. His aunt and uncle had two bathrooms, two refrigerators, even two toasters. For eight years, they even tried to “share” Jeffrey, eating dinner with him on alternating nights.

Then, one spring, Jeffrey was in the spring musicale at his school. Since there was only one show, Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan had to attend together, but they sat on opposite sides of the auditorium. During “Talk to the Animals,” Jeffrey, who was in the chorus, began screaming. At first, nobody noticed. The song ended, and Jeffrey kept screaming. Everyone stared as he pointed to his aunt and uncle and yelled, “Talk, will ya! Talk!” Then he sprang down from the risers, off the stage, out the door, and into the night. He never returned to school.