Activity 2

That summer, let's see, I'm still living in the basement, my own private down under, in the little room Grim built for me there. Glued up this cheap paneling, right? It sort of buckles away from the concrete cellar walls, a regular ripple effect, but do I complain about the crummy paneling or the rug that smells like the low tide? I do not. Because I like it in the down under, got the place all to myself and no fear of Gram - sticking her head in the door and saying Maxwell dear, what are you doing?

The reason that Max has to live with his grandparents is because his mom is dead, and his father is in jail.  Now here's the real kicker.  Max's father, Kenny Kane, is in prison for murdering his own wife.  That is horrible, and what is worse is that Max witnessed the murder of his own mother.

Max is a traumatized kid, and he suffers from low self-esteem.  For those two reasons alone, it makes a lot of sense why Max Kane prefers the basement of his grandparent's house to just about anywhere else.  It is his sanctuary and his hiding place.