Mighty Max

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbric
Reviewed by: Samson

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick follows the adventures of Max and Kevin, two 12 and 13-year-old children who have growth problems, each in the opposite way. Max is a kind-hearted kid who's growing rapidly on the outside but a little slower mentally, raised by his grandparents, Grim and Gram. Kevin, a.k.a. Freak as affectionately called by Max, has the looks of a first-grader but the brain of a scholar, living with his mother. Together, they become Freak the Mighty, an unstoppable duo that walks nine feet tall, going on adventures and saving each other's backs. Max deals with his infamous and incarcerated father, Killer Kane, and Freak also faces some serious problems with his lack of physical growth. Together, they turn a suburban neighborhood into a fantasy world with castles and moats with Freak's imagination as he sits atop the shoulders of Max. Using Max's speed and Freak's cleverness, they also devise a plan to escape the local bully, Tony. Both Max and Freak face large and small predicaments throughout the story as they learn about the world around them and who they are.

A captivating and unorthodox tale filled with many life lessons, Freak the Mighty is a story that shows the true meaning of friendship. The story is told through the perspective of Max, and Philbrick writes in a way that many teenagers can relate to and follow naturally. Besides the partially rare growth problems faced by the story's duo, Freak and Max are mostly like any middle-school child with their personality, adventures, and experiences with friends and school. There are some moments in the story when the plot moves slowly, but the events transition well as the story follows the life of Max and his adventures with Freak. I would recommend this book to at least a general middle-school audience due to the reading level of this story, and I think that many experiences and lessons can be taken away from it. If you read Freak the Mighty, you will probably enjoy the journeys the duo face together, and maybe even think about yourself along the way.