We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

Maniac Magee Chapter 35 Summary

  • Things are a little confused at first, and Piper and Russell enjoy the fact that Maniac is the Maniac who got an inside the park homerun off of McNab's frogball a little too much, but eventually Maniac saves the day by showing Giant John how to throw a stopball.
  • So, here Maniac is at home with the McNab brothers. And he immediately wishes he weren't.
  • Turns out the McNab house isn't a nice place to be. It's filthy (and not the kind of filthy that your mom always accused your room of being—there's actual dog poop on the floor!)
  • It's also falling apart: you can actually jump from the second to the first floor through a hole in the floor.
  • As bad as the house is, it gets a lot worse when Papa McNab comes home. He throws his Burger King bags on the table and that's the most fatherly thing he does all evening.
  • Oh, except for when he drunkenly slurs at the boys to do their homework (did he even notice that they were missing?).
  • While Maniac attempts to clean the place up a bit, Giant John's gang of Cobras comes in, drinks beers, and lights up cigarettes. So do Piper and Russell.
  • At some point in the night someone says something that lets Maniac figure out that the heavy front door and the war games actually serve a purpose: preparation for an invasion from the East End.