I think that main idea / problem in the book " Maniac Magee", is that the boy loses his parents, and after running away from his grandparents who had been taking care of him. He meets many inspiring people on the way. Maniac, meets people that he loves, and meet people that don't believe in him, or end up leaving him. I think that Maniac is misunderstood, and really just wants to find stability in someone. often people in the world want everything to stay the same and don't care for change. Maniac also seeks for things to stay the same. But, only when he is in a good time in his life, Maniac met a man, that was later nicknamed Grey [ all I can remember] He grew very close to this man "Grey" and he moved in with him. Grey served as a father figure to maniac and helped to get his life back on track. But, later on in the story, Grey dies and Maniac is left alone ONCE AGAIN! :( I think that this relates to a real world problem of children that dont have anyone to depend on. Or that don't have anyone that can rightfully take care of them.
In conclusion, I think that Maniac is misunderstood from the grape vine. And that he really just wants someone that will always be there to take care of him. And to make sure that he gets the love that he needs. Maniac goes through many loops that relate to real world problems that need to be worked at in order to be solved.
