Twenty years ago, I first read the book Freak the Mighty. I started the book at 9:30 on a Friday night and finished it before I went to bed. The book was that good! I was hooked from the first chapter.
I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and that’s the truth, the whole truth. The unvanquished truth, is how Freak would say it, and for a long time it was him who did the talking. Except I had a way of saying things with my fists and my feet even before we became Freak the Mighty, slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world.
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Kevin is Freak, a genius with a too small body, and Max is the Mighty because of his small brain and large body. The two become friends. In the midst of an altercation with the local bullies, Max saves Kevin and Freak the Mighty is born.
Max lives with his grandparents because his mother is dead and his father is in prison. His father is known as Killer Kane and this legacy leaves Max with tremendous turmoil, most of which is internal.
Kevin lives with his mom next door to Grim and Gram, Max’s grandparents. Kevin’s medical condition is serious, and while Kevin knows the magnitude of the disease Max does not.
For Freak the Mighty, every day is an adventure filled with knights and fair maidens, rescues and explorations yonder, and stories galore. Real life creeps into their lives as well. However, with the wonderful mix of friends, stories, adventures, and truth, Freak the Mighty will entertain parents as well as the kids.
An aside: We listened to the audio book on a recent road trip, and then we watched the movie The Mighty when we arrived home. The story was so fresh in our minds that we compared the vast differences between the book and movie throughout the entire movie. My 8-year-old said it best; “I like the book better.”
Library Lady 2 