Maniac Magee Chapter 17 Summary

  • It's a hot hot day in August. The fire hydrants are open, radios are playing, lemonade and popsicles are being eaten. Basically, your perfect city summer day.
  • Maniac's having a great time out there with the rest of the kids, but eventually a voice makes itself heard over the din. And that voice is saying, "Whitey."
  • This old man tells Maniac to head home, which confuses Maniac, 'cause he is home.
  • Maniac and the old man go back and forth over this until Hester and Lester come to his defense, but the old man still won't stop harping on Maniac to go back to his own kind.
  • Maniac can't quite let this confrontation go, and he thinks about it as he gets up earlier and earlier each morning heading out on his run.
  • One morning, he's on his way home when Hester and Lester meet him, clearly trying to distract him.
  • As Maniac comes up to the house, he finds Mrs. Beale scrubbing the front of the house like crazy. Unfortunately, she's not fast enough and Maniac is able to see "ISHBELLY GO HOME" (17.29).