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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Amanda's mom act when she first meets Maniac?

2. What happens at the school musical?

3. How long does Maniac stay with his aunt and uncle?

4. What does Mr. Cobble use the knot for?

5. Why doesn't McNab want to pitch to Maniac?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Grayson handle the unconscious Maniac when he discovers him in the buffalo pen?

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

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

4. How is the scene in the kitchen between Mrs. Beale and Maniac both ironic and symbolic?

5. Why does Maniac walk right out of town after he realizes that the encyclopedia has been used for confetti?

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

7. 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?

8. What is the underlying reason that Maniac wants to leave town after the incident at the fire hydrant party?

9. How does Grayson's background shape the man he has become today?

10. How does the story of Grayson't past affect Maniac?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the theme of the book concerning race? How is the theme expressed? What do the characters learn about race by the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

What does Hector Street symbolize? How does the street affect the lives of those in both the East End and the West End?

Essay Topic 3

How does the relationship between Maniac and Mars Bar grow? What do each of the boys give to the other that each is lacking? How does this relationship epitomize the good in human nature?

(see the answer keys)

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