In this novel of a young boy's attempt to unify the town of Two Mills, Spinelli juxtaposes three distinct themes: homelessness, racial prejudice, and literacy. The themes demonstrate Spinelli's realistic portrayal of the world as he sees it.
Throughout the novel, Spinelli focuses on home — or the lack of it. Maniac "was not born in a dump." In fact, the first three years of his life were spent in an average house with a mother and father. He has a home and a family — a place where he belonged. When his parents are killed, his home and family cease to exist. He lives with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan. Even though he lives in a house, he does not feel as though he belongs or as though he is "home." At the age of 11, Maniac chooses homelessness over a dysfunctional household.
Spinelli reinforces the significance of having a home — an address — when he says that Maniac, the legend, has a name, but not an official address with numbers. Maniac lives in the deer shed at the zoo. When Maniac is running from John McNab and the Cobras, he sees "the town whizzing past . . . a blur of faces, each face staring from its own window, each face in its own personal frame, its own house, its own address, someplace to be when there was no other place to be, how lucky to be a face staring out from a window. . . ." Maniac soon discovers a home for himself at the Beales and is happy to have an address. Despite the fact that the Beales are black and Maniac is white, he fits in and loves his new home. For a change, he is on the inside.
Because Maniac is homeless before living with the Beales, he knows how to survive on the streets. His notion of survival is a harsh contrast to the "cardinal rules of survival in the West End." which are simply to stay away from Finsterwald's and from high school boys. After experiencing racial discrimination, Maniac thinks he should leave the Beales because his presence is bringing them pain. He frustrates Amanda by refuting her argument about why he should stay at the Beales with his own argument about how he can survive on the streets. Maniac's feelings are hurt when Amanda tells him that he "can't get a library card without an address!"
