View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Grayson and Maniac buy at Woolworths?

2. Why does Mr. Beale make a U-turn when taking Maniac home?

3. What does Maniac do for Grayson after he reads his first book?

4. What does John McNab do to the Green Sox team at the Little League game?

5. What is being called over and over again to Maniac when the kids are playing on that hot August day in chapter 17?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the big black man so upset that Maniac is playing in the fire hydrant water?

2. How might Amanda Beale's character be a good match for Maniac?

3. Right at the start of this novel, the reader knows that the main character is going to have a different life than the normal pre-teen. How so?

4. How does Maniac get his nickname?

5. Why does Maniac say Amen when Grayson finishes reading his first book and what effect does it have on Grayson?

6. What do Grayson and Maniac teach each other and how does it affect them?

7. Chapter 14 ends with Mrs. Beale asking Maniac whether he is Maniac or not. He responds saying that he is Jeffrey. She states that in her house he will always be Jeffrey. What does this mean for the two of them?

8. Maniac's life tale may be bigger than he actually is. What begins the exaggeration in Chapter 2?

9. How does the Beale household change now that Maniac lives there?

10. Why does Maniac paint 101 on the front door of the equipment room?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Chapter 14 ends with this quote, "Inside a house a kid gets one name, but on the other side of the door, it's whatever the rest of the world wants to call him." How and why does Maniac wear one "mask" inside and one outside? How does this apply to all of mankind?

Essay Topic 2

What is Maniac truly searching for for himself? How is this search a theme of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

What is Maniac's inner conflict? What is the resolution of that conflict? Do you think the resolution of the conflict will be permanent? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,155 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample