The story was told from the point of view of Max, a giant kid with learning disability (LD), who was used to believing that he was not very smart, because everybody around him called him stupid. So, Max learned to be alone and lived in the basement of his house, away from everybody, including his grandparents, who raised him. When Max met Kevin for the first time in the kindergarten, he thought of him as a Freak, because Kevin looked like he was trapped in a tiny body; yet he had a big head and most intelligent mind. Freak’s birth defect, as Max later learned, caused his inner organs to grow, while his outside frame stayed the same. Despite that, Kevin was a little genius with the phenomenal brain, and mental abilities; he was practically a walking dictionary.
The boys didn’t meet again until Kevin moved in Max’s neighborhood and went to the same school as Max. It turned out that Kevin’s and Max’s mothers were once friends too, but we learned that Max’s father, Killer Kane, murdered his wife in front of Max, when he was only a four-year-old boy. When Freak and Max got together and became friends, Max, the spitting image of his father, stopped being so afraid of neighborhood bullies, and became more confident about himself, his intellect and his family heritage. Kevin, on the other hand, loved the fact that he had a friend he was able to share his life with; not everybody wanted to be friends with the “dwarf”. Even though kids at school and in the neighborhood constantly teased the boys and called them names, together Kevin and Max became unstoppable; they became “Freak the Mighty”.
I think this book brings to the reader’s attention a few very important issues such as: bullying, overcoming adversity, growing up with disability, friendship, etc. Bullying is a problem that affects millions of students across the country and the world. Kids that are abused by their peers usually suffer from low self-esteem, stress, and depression. If the problem goes unnoticed, those fears and anxieties can lead them to suicide. Max and Kevin were lucky to find each other, because together they were able to stand up to the crowd; they were able to leave their insecurities behind and have fun, be adventurous and happy. Their friendship conquered their fears, and helped them feel normal for once in their life. Other kids might not be so lucky. I think that after reading this book, some kids might look at their handicapped peers differently, with more respect and tolerance.
The boys didn’t meet again until Kevin moved in Max’s neighborhood and went to the same school as Max. It turned out that Kevin’s and Max’s mothers were once friends too, but we learned that Max’s father, Killer Kane, murdered his wife in front of Max, when he was only a four-year-old boy. When Freak and Max got together and became friends, Max, the spitting image of his father, stopped being so afraid of neighborhood bullies, and became more confident about himself, his intellect and his family heritage. Kevin, on the other hand, loved the fact that he had a friend he was able to share his life with; not everybody wanted to be friends with the “dwarf”. Even though kids at school and in the neighborhood constantly teased the boys and called them names, together Kevin and Max became unstoppable; they became “Freak the Mighty”.
I think this book brings to the reader’s attention a few very important issues such as: bullying, overcoming adversity, growing up with disability, friendship, etc. Bullying is a problem that affects millions of students across the country and the world. Kids that are abused by their peers usually suffer from low self-esteem, stress, and depression. If the problem goes unnoticed, those fears and anxieties can lead them to suicide. Max and Kevin were lucky to find each other, because together they were able to stand up to the crowd; they were able to leave their insecurities behind and have fun, be adventurous and happy. Their friendship conquered their fears, and helped them feel normal for once in their life. Other kids might not be so lucky. I think that after reading this book, some kids might look at their handicapped peers differently, with more respect and tolerance.
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