Maniac Magee

Maniac goes back to sleeping at the zoo, this time in the buffalo pen. One day, he falls while climbing the fence and injures himself. An old park attendant named Grayson finds him unconscious on the ground, skinny and dirty. Grayson takes Maniac to the baseball equipment room behind the band shell. When Maniac wakes up, Grayson feeds him instant soup. Maniac is still hungry, so Grayson brings him a sandwich and asks his name. Maniac tells him about running away from his home on the East End, which confuses Grayson because they are both white. When Maniac asks for butterscotch Krimpets, they go to the store.

Grayson then takes the boy to the YMCA, where he rents a room on the third floor so Maniac can shower and borrow clothes. After buying Maniac better-fitting clothes, Grayson asks Maniac about going to school. Maniac refuses to go to school because it’s only a “day home,” and he has no real home to go to after school like other kids do. He plans to stay in the baseball room and warns Grayson that if he tries to force him to go to school, he will run again. Grayson silently accepts.