: Hitting a home run off the local bully, John McNab.
Maniac Magee: The Boy Who Ran Toward Home They say he was born in a dump. They say his heart was a sofa spring. They say he could untie any knot and hit a home run off a frog. Maniac Magee
But his most impressive feat isn't athletic. It's his radical "colorblindness." Jeffrey doesn't understand why he shouldn't live with the Beales in the East End or why he can't be friends with an old groundskeeper like Grayson. To him, people are just people. Why It Still Matters : Hitting a home run off the local bully, John McNab
The story begins with a tragedy: Jeffrey's parents die in a trolley accident. After years of living with an aunt and uncle who refuse to speak to one another, Jeffrey does the only thing that makes sense. He runs. They say he could untie any knot and
While the book uses the tone of a legend, it deals with heavy, permanent themes:
: Untying the impossible Cobble’s Knot that had stumped the town for years.