Conventional writing wisdom is that the first few lines of a story should grab the reader. Consider this opening paragraph:

"I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and that's the truth, the whole truth. The unvanquished truth, is how Freak would say it, and for a long time it was him who did the talking. Except I had a way of saying things with my fists and my feet even before we became Freak the Mighty, slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world."

From there, Rodman Philbrick, the author, leads readers through a story of two boys who individually confront traumatic pasts as well as struggle day-to-day with their disabilities. Maxwell is a huge 7th grader who is diagnosed with a learning disability; his father killed his mother and is prematurely released on parole. Kevin is a genius dwarf with Morquio Syndrome; his father also abandoned him and his battle is against time and the limitations of his diseased body. Together they become an inseparable team.

With Kevin riding high on his shoulders, Maxwell learns he not only can "slay dragons," but defeat town bullies and overcome his fears about his father and school. Kevin finds an invaluable friend who loves and respects him.

Philbrick weaves their stories together masterfully. I love the voices of the two characters, the layers of meaning, and how Philbrick brings us a story about friendship and acceptance, as well as about death and healing. 

I don’t have enough words for how much I love this book. It’s real, it’s gritty, it’s intense, inspiring, sad, suspenseful, funny. I could go on and on, but bottom line is this book was phenomenal.

This is the story of Max & Kevin aka “Freak the Mighty.” It is told by Max, an overgrown middle school boy. Everyone is afraid of him because he looks so much like his old man, someone you know right away is a very bad guy. He calls himself a butthead, is made fun of at school, and doesn’t have any friends. One day Max sees some commotion going on down the street.

n  

Next thing I notice is this crippled-up yellow-haired midget kid strutting around the sidewalk, giving orders to the beards.
He’s going: “Hey you, Doofus! Yeah, you with the hairy face, take it easy with that box. That box contains a computer, you know what a computer is?”
I can’t believe it. By then I’m sneaking along the street to see what’s going on, and there’s this weird-looking little dude, he’s got a normal-sized head, but the rest of him is shorter than a yardstick and kind of twisted in a way that means he can’t stand up straight and makes his chest puff out, and he’s waving his crutches around and yelling up at the movers.

...

I go, “I thought there weren’t any real robots. Just in the movies.”
Boy does that make his eyes blaze. Like whoa! talk about laser beams! He’s like fuming, so upset he can hardly talk. Finally he gets control of himself and he goes,
“I suppose I must make allowances for your ignorance. On the subject of robots you are clearly misinformed."

n
Kevin is a genius, he’s feisty, has a huge vocabulary, is hilarious and just so happens to have a physical disability. Him and Max strike up a friendship and become inseparable. It’s such an amazing dynamic between them. Every sees Max as big and stupid and Kevin as smart and small, so together they are unstoppable. They have adventures and face some huge obstacles together.

n  I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and that’s the truth, the whole truth.n

The way this book is written really helps pull you into the story. You can literally hear Max’s voice as you read. His commentary and inner thoughts are so relatable and the things him and Kevin get themselves into are hilarious. There are so many twists and turns that keep this story fresh and unpredictable. The suspense was something I was not expecting at all going in, but it really added to the overall plot.

I read this book with my sixth grade class and when I passed out the books they said they thought it was going to be cheesy and kind of dumb. They quickly changed their tune. This book deals with a lot of really serious issues and the situations definitely make it for more mature readers. The things we were reading shocked some of my kids and it was challenging at times. I usually planned on reading 1-2 chapters a day and when things were really heating up we read up to 4 chapters at a time. We could not put it down. The experience of reading this book with kids was priceless. They were so invested, every single one of them. At one point or another I heard, “I’ve never cared about a book so much in my life” from almost everyone.

This book is unforgettable. I LOVED it. 5+ stars.

n  ”Books are like truth serum — if you don’t read, you can’t figure out what’s real.”n

Sidenote: The audio of this book is AMAZING! My kids love to read aloud themselves and they begged to only listen to the audio version. So, so, so good!

Really enjoyable, heart-moving book about friendship between two boys and how they cope with their difficulties together.