Freak the Mighty By: Rodman Philbrick Adapted By: Kasey Vollmerhausen, August 2011

Max Kane is 12 years old. He is very tall for his age, but he is not very smart. The kids at school call him Mad Max.

Max lives with his grandparents, Grim and Gram.

In the summer, new neighbors move in next to Max and his grandparents.

The new neighbors are Kevin and his mom, Gwen.

Kevin is very small for his age, but he is very smart.

Kevin has a disease that makes him so small. It’s also hard for him to walk. The kids at school call him Freak.

One day Kevin gets his airplane stuck in a tree. Max helps him get it back, and they start to become friends.

Kevin has a dictionary that he always carries with him. He teaches Max how to find the definition of words he doesn’t know.

On the Fourth of July, Max and Kevin go to the fireworks. Max puts Kevin on his shoulders so Kevin can see them.

Max carries Kevin around on his shoulders for the rest of the summer. Kevin calls them Freak the Mighty.

Freak the Mighty spend the summer together going on imaginary quests.

One of their quests takes them to the hospital. Freak tells Max that he is going to get a new bionic body.

When school starts, Max is placed in the smart classes with Kevin so Freak the Mighty are still together.

Freak helps Max with his comprehension in school and Max feels smart.

In October, things change. Max gets called to the principal’s office and he is scared.

The principal tells Max that his father is out of jail. This makes Max feel anxious.

Max’s father was in jail for murder. He killed Max’s mother.

When he feels better, Max is sent back to class, but something bad is about to happen.

Freak the Mighty are eating lunch when Freak asks for more food. Max goes to get more, but when he comes back something is wrong.

Freak’s face is red and he can’t breathe. Max runs for help, and Freak has to go to the hospital.

The next day Freak comes home and he tells Max that the doctors used their bionic technology to fix him.

Max is curious about why the doctors need to give Freak a new bionic body.

Freak tells Max that the inside of his body is growing, but the outside isn’t. He needs a bigger body so his insides won’t get squished.

Freak and Max decide not to talk about it any more, and in a few days things are back to normal.

It is now Christmas Eve, and Freak and his mom are at Grim and Gram’s house for dinner. After dinner, everyone gets to open one gift.

Freak gets a multi-tool from Max, and Max receives a hand-made dictionary from Freak.

In the middle of the night, Max is woken up by a hand covering his mouth.

Max’s father has broken into his room and kidnaps Max. Max is terrified.

Max is taken to an old house and tied up while his father goes to find a car so they can escape.

While his father is gone, a lady named Loretta comes to rescue Max. Loretta used to be a friend of Max’s father.

Before Loretta can finish untying Max, his father comes back and catches Loretta trying to free Max.

Max’s father becomes irate and begins to choke Loretta. Max tries to save her by knocking his father to the ground.

It works, and Max’s father lets Loretta go. She is hurt badly, but before Max can help her, Max’s father begins to choke him.

Max is terrified that he is going to die, and he is about to give up when something terrific happens.

Freak breaks into the old house and yells at Max’s father to let Max go. When he doesn’t, Freak shoots Max’s father in the face with a water gun.

Freak put vinegar and pepper in the water gun which burns Max’s father’s eyes.

Max escapes from his father, grabs Freak, and they run away from the old house.

The police are waiting outside and they arrest Max’s father. The paramedics take Loretta to the hospital.

Grim and Gram are glad that Max is okay. Loretta will also be okay. Freak is a hero.

When Freak the Mighty go back to school, everyone is jealous of them because they got to be on the news.

Things return to normal and finally it is the last day of school.

Freak the Mighty are not allowed to go on any quests this summer because Gwen is worried about Freak’s health.

A few days after school lets out, Freak has his birthday. He turns 13.

Gwen has a party at her house with Max, and Grim and Gram. They all got Freak a computer for his birthday.

While Freak is showing Grim all the cool things about his new computer, something bad happens.

Freak has a seizure and is rushed to the hospital. Max is not allowed to see Freak, but he wants to be close to him, so Max walks to the hospital anyway.

Max is finally allowed to see Freak, and asks when he will be home. Freak tells Max that he will not be coming home until he gets his new bionic body.

Freak starts to have trouble breathing, so Max has to leave and is told that he cannot visit Freak any more.

Max wants to see Freak, so the next morning he wakes up very early and goes to see Freak before anyone can stop him.

When Max gets to the hospital, Freak is not there. He asks where Freak is and the nurse calls the doctor.

The doctor comes and tells Max that Freak died in the middle of the night. Max gets very upset.

Max accuses the doctor of lying and says that Freak can’t be dead because he is getting a bionic body.

The doctor tells Max that Freak made up the story about his bionic body because it gave him hope.

Max is depressed and stays in his bedroom for weeks. He does not go to Freak’s funeral because he is so depressed.

Max eventually comes out of his room, but summer is almost over.

When school starts again, everyone tells Max they are sorry that Freak died. It doesn’t help Max feel better though.

One day Max sees Loretta. She tells him that Freak was a very good friend and that Max should not be sad anymore.

Max thinks about this for a while, and decides to do something to remember Freak. He writes about their friendship and the quests they went on.

Writing about everything that happened gives Max hope. He will be okay.

Vocabulary: *Disease- sickness Definition- the meaning of something Imaginary- made up; not real Quest- an adventure Bionic- robot Comprehend- to understand something Multi-tool- a lot of tools combined into one *Rescue- to help someone Irate- extremely angry Escape- to get away *Hero- someone who does something good Jealous- to want what someone else has Seizure- when you can’t control your body *Depressed- to be really sad NOTE: the words with a * are words from last year, but probably won’t hurt to review.