Freak the Mighty
Freak the Mighty Book 1
ISBN 9780439286060
eISBN 9780545600279
ASIN B00B9FX6JC
I was recently having a discussion with a young man in his early 20’s and asked about his favourite book, because that is what bibliophiles do. He immediately said this volume. I looked it up later in the day and discovered there is a second volume, of which he was unaware and also a movie. I wanted to give this a try and it was a most excellent read!
I do not recall hearing about Scholastic Gold prior to this volume. The desctiption of the branding is:
“Scholastic Gold is a curated line of acclaimed middle-grade paperback novels from Scholastic, featuring popular authors and bonus content. It highlights high-quality children’s literature, including both new and classic titles with added, exclusive material to enrich the reading experience for young readers, teachers, and librarians.”
This volume would definitely fit in that category. I have been publishing reviews for 21 years now, first in papers and magazines and then on my blog and other platforms. I was cancelled by Amazon a few years back, but continue to read and write reviews because I must. I have tagged Scholastic over 450 times on my blog for reviews of books, or for my Top Ten Lists each quarter or year. So my surprise at Scholastic Gold was real and I look forward to check out the collection. But back to the book at hand. The description of this volume state:
“An unexpected friendship leads to a life-changing story in this timeless classic by Newbery Honor author Rodman Philbrick.
Freak the Mighty joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!
"I never had a brain until Freak came along . . . "
That's what Max thought. All his life he'd been called stupid. Dumb. Slow. It didn't help that his body seemed to be growing faster than his mind. It didn't help that people were afraid of him. So Max learned how to be alone. At least until Freak came along.
Freak was weird, too. He had a little body -- and a really big brain. Together Max and Freak were unstoppable.
Together, they were Freak the Mighty.”
This is an incredibly moving story. It was one I could really relate to. I repeated grade 1 and then in grade 2 was diagnoses with a dual form of dyslexia. Because of the dyslexia I did not read when young and because or repeating I was the biggest in the class for many years. This story does an amazing job of capturing self-doubt and struggles because of difficulties in class or school.
This is a classic buddy or school story. It reminds me a lot of the works of Andrew Clements or Gordon Korman. I am really surprised I had not encountered the author previously. This book was so good; I picked up three others by the author before finishing it.
This is one of those touching stories you could read over and over again. It is a classic. It is a great read for young readers and those who read to them. And it is touching and moving even for us older folks. It is a fantastic story I can easily recommend. And I know I will be reading more by Philbrick and the various names he publishes under!
Books by Rodman Philbrick:
Max the Mighty Series:
Freak the Mighty (1993)
Max the Mighty (1998)
…
House on Cherry Street Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. The Haunting (1995)
2. The Horror (1995)
3. The Final Nightmare (1995)
…
Werewolf Chronicles Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. Night Creature (1996)
2. Children of the Wolf (1996)
3. The Wereing (1996)
…
Visitors Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. Strange Invaders (1997)
2. Things (1997)
3. Brain Stealers (1997)
…
Wild Series:
1. Wildfire (2019)
2. Wild River (2021)
3. Wild Wave (2024)
4. Wild Blizzard (2026)
…
Other Books:
Shooting Star (1982)
The Black Moon (1989)
Brothers and Sinners (1993)
The Fire Pony (1996)
Abduction (1998) (with Lynn Harnett)
The Mighty (1998)
The Last Book in the Universe (2000)
Dark Matter (2000)
Rem World (2000)
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds (2001)
Coffins (2002)
The Young Man and the Sea (2004)
Lobster Boy (2005)
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (2009)
Listening To Kids In America (2011)
Zane and the Hurricane (2014)
The Big Dark (2016)
Who Killed Darius Drake? (2017)
We Own the Sky (2022)
…
Written as William R Dantz:
Pulse (1989) (as by William R Dantz)
The Seventh Sleeper (1991) (as by William R Dantz)
Hunger (1993) (as by William R Dantz)
Nine Levels Down (1995) (as by William R Dantz)
Written as by W R Philbrick:
The Big Chip (1990) (as by W R Philbrick)
…
J.D. Hawkins Series:
1. Shadow Kills (1985)
2. Ice for the Eskimo (1986)
3. Paint It Black (1989)
4. Walk on the Water (1991)
…
T.D. Stash Series:
1. The Neon Flamingo (1987)
2. The Crystal Blue Persuasion (1988)
3. Tough Enough (1989)
…
Written as by Chris Jordan:
Randall Shane Series:
1. Taken (2006)
2. Trapped (2007)
aka Lost
3. Torn (2009)
4. Measure of Darkness (2011)
…
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