There are many themes of Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. One theme is the theme of love. Amanda and her family cared for Maniac unconditionally. They didn't care what everyone else thought about him. They took him in and gave him a family unit. Another theme is brotherhood. Mars Bar hated Maniac at the beginning of the story. He felt that he was a threat and he didn't belong. In the end, Mars learned that Maniac wasn't a bad person. After learning this, Mars started to help Maniac and become a good friend. A theme of this book is also Race. Two Mills is divided between blacks and whites. The fact that Maniac was able to come into the black part of Two Mills and get love and respect is something that was unimaginable at that time period.