Summary Of Rodman Philbrick's Freak The Mighty

Freak the Mighty, a book now recommended to classrooms around the world, is written by Rodman Philbrick, and takes place in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Maxwell is the main character, and the book is mostly about what he is remembering. Max is both dyslexic and illiterate, but is rather tall and strong for his age. Kevin, the other main character, suffers from Morquio Syndrome, a ridiculously rare and also rather dangerous form of dwarfism (earning him the nickname “Freak”, due to his bell-shaped chest and small height), although is very intelligent and is never afraid to display such knowledge. Kevin cannot walk very easily without assistance, but can crawl on all fours rather quickly. At first, when Max meets Kevin, Kevin doesn’t display a want to set a good first impression, but when Max helps him get an ornithopter from a tree, they become close friends, despite them being near polar opposites in many ways (personality, capacity for learning, and physical ability). Throughout their friendship, Maxwell learns many new, useful, and trivial things about the world around him (such as how to write) from Kevin, whose only practical method of transportation outside of his home (other than a car or other large vehicle) is riding on Maxwell’s shoulders (much like a piggyback ride). Max and Kevin also go through …show more content…
The reason Freak the Mighty is such a good book is that the book slowly builds up, and the climax is a great and unusual twist to the book. However, it also has a sort of second climax. When you would expect the book to end, the mood quickly flips, which is a neat addition nearly all books lack entirely. Therefore, I think that anyone, even those who don’t like to read, should read Freak the Mighty, with its many unique features and a wide variety of themes that can be taken from the