Maniac Magee

            This is a book that I have read many times. It is one of the saddest books I've ever read as well. Maniac Magee is not a maniac. This is just what people labeled him because he runs around all the time and he is homeless. He has no parents because they died in a car accident. 
            I would feel horrible if I were in Maniac Magee's place. His real name is actually Jeffrey. So I would feel horrible because it's hard for me to imagine not having any parents. I'd feel so lonely all the time. There'd be no one to come home to. There would be no one to hug. No one to ask you how your day went. Parents are the people you trust from the moment you come into the world. So what happens when you lose them? You just feel even lonelier. Jeffrey has nothing to do but run away from his aunt and uncle.
            Jeffrey becomes known as this Maniac because he runs around town by himself. This is what people do. They label you without trying to know who you really are. Yes, that's cliche. But a lot of things are only cliche because they are very important. People just assume things about you without actually ever talking to you. I don't know how you can even try to change that. 
            Sometimes you need to give people a chance to prove themselves. You need to not judge them based on appearance or just from what people say. Those things are all very superficial and don't take in account how that person really is on the inside. Small things like this hurt. And they affect what people think of themselves. 
           Jeffrey has had a very hard life. He doesn't deserve to be called a maniac. He doesn't deserve to have no parents. He doesn't deserve a lot of bad things that just happen to him. But he needs to find a way to overcome all these obstacles. No one said it would be easy though. It'll take time. Time and effort. And hope.