Freak the Mighty is an intriguing and unusual story. It is about two friends who join forces with each other and become Freak the Mighty, a powerful team of brave knights who prove their worthiness by their deeds. The author, Rodman Philbrick, includes all the trials and astonishing events that happen to Max and Kevin, the main characters of this story.

Maxwell Kane is a large boy being raised by his grandparents, who he calls Grim and Gram. He moved in with his grandparents after his mother died and his father went to jail. Philbrick invented this fictional character based on what he saw when he was a child . . . a little guy riding around on the shoulders of one of his big buddies.

Kevin Avery is a very smart boy with a growth condition called Morquio Syndrome. Morquio Syndrome is a rare form of dwarfism which can have serious medical consequences. Kevin has a very big brain! In fact, he made his own dictionary with his own definitions for things around him.

“I never had a brain until Freak came along . . .” That’s what Max thought. All his life he’d been called stupid, dumb, and slow. It didn’t help that his body seemed to be growing faster than his mind, or that people were afraid of him. Max learned how to be alone, until Freak came along. Freak was weird, too. He had a little body – and a big brain. Together, Max and Kevin were unstoppable. Together, they were Freak the Mighty!

The story’s plot is circular. At the beginning of the story, Max thought he didn’t have a brain and that he never will. But it’s not until the novel’s final pages that I learn that Max is writing a book about the heart-stopping journeys that Freak the Mighty carries out. These adventures, or quests (as Freak calls them), are taken place in Kevin and Max’s neighborhood.

This book is all about friendship. The theme, friendship, is entertaining because you never would have thought that a big guy with a learning disability would become friends with a short dude that’s a genius. The story has a certain style of how Freak talks to Max throughout the entire story. The style of dialogue between the two characters is formal because formal is designating language using characterized vocabulary, complex syntax, etc.

Rodman Philbrick has taught me so many lessons amongst this fiction novel for young adults. But the one that stands out to me was this: never judge a book by its cover. This means that people may look a certain way, but that doesn’t mean that that’s the way their personality is. I think this book is the best book I’ve ever read. If you’re a reader who is prepared to be amazed by friendship and irony, this book will really blow you away!