Jeffrey Lionel Magee's parents die in a trolley crash, and he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Hollidaysburg.

At age 11, Jeffrey runs away from his aunt and uncle's home during a school choir performance.

Jeffrey arrives in Two Mills and meets Amanda Beale, convincing her to lend him one of her prized books.

Jeffrey earns the nickname Maniac through daring feats around Two Mills and sleeps in the zoo deer pen.

Mars Bar Thompson corners Maniac in the East End and tears a page from Amanda's borrowed book.

After Maniac admits he has no home, Mrs. Beale invites him to live with the Beale family.

An older Black man at a block party calls Maniac whitey and demands he leave the East End.

Maniac spends the day untying the massive Cobble's Knot as a crowd watches, and the local paper takes his picture.

Amanda discovers her encyclopedia A has been shredded into confetti, and Maniac runs away from Two Mills.

An elderly park attendant named Grayson finds Maniac unconscious outside the zoo and nurses him back to health.

Grayson reveals to Maniac that he has never learned to read and asks for the boy's help.

Maniac and Grayson decorate the bandshell room for Christmas and exchange heartfelt gifts on Christmas morning.

Grayson dies peacefully in his sleep five days after Christmas, leaving Maniac alone and heartbroken.

Maniac attends Grayson's funeral as the only mourner and flees when the callous pallbearers behave disrespectfully.

Amanda Beale and Mars Bar find Maniac sleeping in the zoo and together persuade him to return home to the Beales.

Jeffrey Lionel Magee loses his parents in a trolley accident and runs away from his cold, uncommunicative aunt and uncle at age 11. He arrives in the racially divided town of Two Mills and quickly earns the nickname Maniac through daring feats performed on both sides of Hector Street. After winning the hearts of the Beale family, racist retaliation forces him to flee, and he finds a quieter home with an elderly park attendant named Grayson. Their bond deepens through shared stories and holiday celebrations, but Grayson's sudden death leaves Maniac devastated and convinced he is cursed to be alone. After months of wandering and sleeping in the zoo, Maniac is finally brought home by Amanda Beale and Mars Bar, who refuse to let him remain alone.

Jeffrey Magee's search for a home in a divided town.

Jeffrey sneaks unnoticed into the large Pickwell family dinner and is only recognized as a stranger after the meal ends.

Jeffrey shocks a Little League crowd by hitting home run after home run off pitcher John McNab's powerful fastball.

McNab throws a live frog at Jeffrey instead of a ball, and Jeffrey bunts it and scores while McNab chases him.

Jeffrey rescues a terrified boy from high school bullies who are trying to throw him into Finsterwald's dreaded backyard.

The Cobras chase Maniac down the railroad tracks but stop at Hector Street, refusing to cross into the East End.

The Beale family buys Maniac new sneakers and takes him to church, where he joyfully learns to shout A-men.

Mrs. Beale tearfully scrubs hateful graffiti from the outside of the Beale house, a retaliation for Maniac living there.

Amanda tells Maniac about Cobble's Knot and promises that untying it will make the skeptical townspeople accept his presence.

Grayson takes Maniac to the YMCA for a shower, rents him a room, and buys him better-fitting clothes.

Grayson shares baseball stories with Maniac, including the time he struck out a young Willie Mays in the minors.

Maniac and Grayson cook a Thanksgiving meal together and dance happily to old polka records after dinner.

Maniac paints 101 Band Shell Boulevard on the bandshell door to officially claim it as their shared home address.

Grayson reads his first complete book independently, and Maniac celebrates by hugging him and saying A-men.

After Grayson's death, Maniac wanders homeless through several towns and ends up sheltering at the Valley Forge monument.

Maniac arrives at Piper McNab's birthday party with Mars Bar, shocking the racist McNab family and the Cobras.

Pool 2 traces the specific encounters and smaller triumphs that built Maniac's reputation across Two Mills. From hitting home runs off McNab's fastball to rescuing a boy from Finsterwald's yard, Maniac's daring acts accumulate into a living legend that both sides of town talk about. His time with the Beales includes small but meaningful moments like receiving new sneakers, attending church, and watching the family absorb racist retaliation on his behalf. His friendship with Grayson deepens through baseball stories, shared reading lessons, and holiday rituals, culminating in Grayson reading his first complete book. By the time Maniac brings Mars Bar to the McNabs' birthday party, the seeds of change he has planted across Two Mills are beginning to take root.

The feats, friendships, and quiet moments that shaped Maniac's legend.

Amanda Beale explains Two Mills' racial divide to Jeffrey: Black residents live in the East End, white residents in the West End.

Jeffrey intercepts a football pass one-handed at the East End high school while holding Amanda's borrowed book.

Amanda confronts Mars Bar for tearing her book page, drives him off, and then invites Maniac to come home with her.

While living with the Beales, Maniac eats pizza for the first time and suffers an allergic reaction.

Maniac stands outside the Beale family home at night, staring at the address numbers on the door with quiet joy.

Feeling guilty that his presence is endangering the Beales, Maniac quietly runs away from their home.

Maniac refuses Grayson's suggestion to attend school, explaining that school is only a day home and he has no real home.

Grayson asks Maniac to teach him to read, admitting he never learned because his parents and teachers gave up on him.

With patient encouragement from Maniac, Grayson successfully reads his first full sentence completely on his own.

Maniac meets runaway brothers Russell and Piper McNab at the Valley Forge monument and tricks them into returning to Two Mills with free pizza.

After sharing pizza with the McNab boys, Maniac runs into John McNab and discovers that Russell and Piper are his little brothers.

Maniac discovers that George and John McNab have built a concrete pillbox inside their house to prepare for a race war.

Over several weeks, Mars Bar begins silently running alongside Maniac on his morning runs, slowly closing the distance between them.

Russell gets trapped on the trolley trestle, and Maniac—overwhelmed by memories of his parents' deaths there—walks away unable to help.

Mars Bar saves Russell from the trestle, then finds Maniac in the zoo and hears for the first time about Maniac's parents dying on that same bridge.

Pool 3 focuses on the moments of realization and choice that drive Maniac's journey forward. From learning about Two Mills' racial divide to fleeing the Beales out of guilt, Maniac's decisions are shaped by a deep longing to belong without hurting those he loves. The revelation that Grayson cannot read transforms their relationship, and Grayson's slow progress toward literacy mirrors Maniac's own growth in accepting care and connection. In Part 3, key discoveries—like finding the McNabs building a concrete war fortress inside their home—force Maniac to confront the full depth of the town's prejudice and his own responsibility to fight it. The final turning point arrives when Mars Bar's heroic act on the trolley trestle and his honest conversation with Maniac at the zoo break through Maniac's fear of belonging, leading him home at last.