Freak the Mighty (Scholastic Gold)

Freak the Mighty is a book written in first person by a boy in eighth grade, Max, who has a learning disability. The book is unclear what his specific disability is, however it is clear that he struggles with reading and he has attended the "LD class" for many years. There is a boy across the street that just moved in named Kevin that has a physical disability, but he is very intelligent. He is the same age that Max is. These two boys become great friends, and together they call themselves "Freak the Mighty." Throughout the book the boys help each other with their disabilities and they help each other through many different struggles. Max puts Kevin on his shoulders a lot so that he can see and get from place to place. Kevin helps Max with his school work, and Max is eventually put into the regular education class full time. "Freak the Mighty" have a lot of exciting adventures together, and they help each other through many struggles.This book does a great job of explaining the challenges that students with disabilities can face. The students are put down and called names in this book by people in society and in school because of their disabilities. This is something that many students with disabilities do face. It is written from the point of view of Max, and it shows that he knows and understands a lot more than people give him credit for, even though he can't read very well. Even though this book shows how the students are put down, it does a great job of showing that this is wrong. I think this is a book that many students, those with disabilities as well as those without disabilities, can relate to.I feel that this book can be used in my classroom in a couple of different ways. I am a seventh grade learning support teacher. I think that this would be a great read-aloud book to use in my classroom as well as a great book for students to read. It is a very exciting and entertaining book that is hard to put down. I think the students would love to hear this book. The book is written in first person. It is an entertaining book to read. After the students have read or heard the book, I would then have the students compare their experiences in school to the characters' experiences in school. The boys in this book have a very exciting eighth grade year. It also shows how many students with reading disabilities and physical disabilities can be put down. I don't necessarily agree with how these students are treated in the book however I feel it does a great job of showing how disrespectful that can be. We can then have a discussion of what we can do as a school to make the environment better for all students.

nice story, I bought it for my daughter because she asked for it at school, it has good writing and content

Great book

Freak the Mighty is a very powerful book that teaches us all a lot of good lessons. The book is about friends named Kevin and Max who are also known as Freak the Mighty. These main characters are different from each other, but they still are very close friends. That is one main thing that I really liked about the book. It did a great job of showing the reader that friends come in all different sizes, intelligences, shapes or colors. What really matters in a friend is their personality and how they treat you and other people. Freak (Kevin) was very smart and sickly and Max (Mighty) was slow and huge, but they both saw past how different they were and became very close and amazing friends.I also liked how Max was not bad like his father. This shows that you can chose whoever you want to be even if your family is bad or you have a lot of issues in your life. A good quote that shows how your past can hurt who you are is "it's more than just the way Maxwell resembles him, Grim says that night in the kitchen, the boy is like him, we'd better watch out, you never know what he might do while we're sleeping." (Page 3-4, paragraphs 5 and 1) But, then Max's grandmother really explains that our past or our family situation can't make us who we are when she says "And Gram right away shushes him and says don't ever say that, again, because little pictures have big ears." (Page 4 paragraph 1)You can really choose your own path. I liked how Freak wasn't afraid of being who he was; he wasn't scared of talking smart. Freak wasn't afraid of anything and he kept trying to play even though he was very sick. He didn't let his sickness stop get in his way. Freak taught me that you should keep moving on even if you have disabilities.What I also liked about the book was that the words weren't that long or complicated. The chapters weren't that long; they were only about five to seven pages. This book is good for all ages, from younger children to older teens. It was a fast and easy book to read and I think anyone can relate to the characters. The book was not fake or unreal, so anyone can learn a lot from it. On pages 39-40, there is a quote that I really liked that shows how fun and witty the book is and how anyone can enjoy it. The quote says "We're Freak the Mighty, that's who we are we're nine feet tall, in case you hadn't noticed." I would recommend anyone to read this book especially kids my age from 10 and up.