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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. Who specifically has tried to untie the knot before Maniac?

2. Why does Amanda stay up late the night of her argument with Maniac?

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

4. What do Maniac and Grayson do right after Thanksgiving dinner?

5. How long does it take Maniac to travel two hundred miles to Two Mills?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Grayson so curious about that he obviously has no understanding of during his meal with Maniac at the diner?

2. What does the reader learn about Maniac's personality through the scene of Mars Bar and Maniac and the candy bar?

3. Why do Maniac and Grayson decorate a tree in the woods?

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

5. 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?

6. Why won't Maniac go to school?

7. What stops McNab and the Cobras from chasing Maniac after the home run hit? What does this say about the boys?

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

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

10. How does Maniac impress the star quarterback, Brian Denehy in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Whom are the major conflicts in the book between? Are they resolved? If so, how are these conflicts resolved?

Essay Topic 3

Why doesn't Maniac go to school? How does this decision affect Maniac, as well as the other major characters in the story?

(see the answer keys)

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