Freak the Mighty Study Guide
Ch. 1-4
1. What is the irony of Max calling his Grandfather “Grim”?
2. What does “booting everyone who dared to touch” him (Max) mean?
3. Why won’t Grim and Gram use Max’s father’s name?
4. How does Freak make it clear that he is not someone to “mess with”?
5. Which is a reference for how Max feels about himself?
6. What amazes Max about Freak?
7. “Fair Gwen of Air” is Freak’s name for his mom. It is a play on words from…
8. What does Freak use to help him “figure out what is real”?
9. Freak’s real name is…
10. How does Grim feel about Max?
11. What was Max’s nickname in daycare? Why was he called that?
12. What does Max mean by “…the year Gram and Grim took me over…”?
13. What does Grim mean when he says that Maxwell is “getting to look a lot like him?
14. Why is Kevin waving his crutch up at the tree and trying to jump up and down?
15. Who is “the Fair Gwen”. Describe her as Max would.
16. What is Kevin doing as the movers are moving them in to their new home?
17. Why do you think Kevin is not embarrassed to have Max pulling him in the wagon?
18 . Why does Kevin refer to his mom as “the Fair Gwen of Air”?
19. Describe Kevin’s fascination with knights.
20. Describe the relationship Kevin makes between King Arthur’s men and todays robots.
21. According to Kevin, what is robotics and how is it used?
22. When comparing TV to books, Kevin says, “Books are like truth serum—if you don’t read, you can’t
figure out what’s real.” What does he mean?
23. Explain why Gwen is so worried about Kevin being with Max.
Ch. 5-7
24.
Why does Gwen call Gram?
25.
Who is “bigger than most people”?
26. Why does Gwen talk a “a mile a minute” when Max comes over for dinner?
27.
Why did Max “cry like a baby” when he returned to his room after dinner?
28.
What is Tony D’s nickname?
29.
Why does Max conclude freak is “possibly the smartest human being in the whole world”?
30.
How does Freak direct Max in escaping Blade and his gang?
31.
When Blade is humiliated after his rescue from the mud—what does he do?
32.
How does Freak alert the police that they needed help?
33.
What did the police say about Max’s father?
34. Why do you think Max feels so uncomfortable about having dinner with Kevin and Gwen?
35. Why does Max cry when he lies down on his bed that night?
36. Explain why Max gets to go to the fireworks this year without Grim or Gram for the first time.
37. What was Tony D. trying to prove with comments like, “Hey you! Mutt and Jeff! Frankenstein and
Igor! What is this, a freak show?”
38. How does Max get the idea to carry Kevin around on his shoulders?
39. What is it about fireworks that causes Kevin to start calling out the names of all those chemical
elements and compounds?
40. What is Freak’s plan to get away from Tony D. and his gang?
41. Why do the cops have to use ropes to get Max and Kevin out of the pond?
42. Where does the name for Kevin and Max, “Freak the Mighty” come from?
Ch 8-10.
43. How is this summer different for Max?
44. What does Freak keep in his knapsack?
45. What does Freak tell Max about the medical research building?
46. Why is Max annoyed that everyone feels so sorry for Freak?
47. What does Freak want to look for in the sewer?
48. What is Freak’s response when Max asks “Will it hurt? Getting your parts replaced?”
50. What is Freak’s “special retrieval device”?
51. Max was a person who was often shy and discouraged.
52. How has Freak changed this?
53. Which is a question that kept Max awake on the night of their treasure hunt?
54. How does Freak look when Max meets Freak at 3 a.m.?
55. Why does Max think Kevin rescued him, rather than the other way around?
56. “Dinosaurs had brains the size of peanuts and they ruled the earth for a hundred million years.”
How does this quote relate to Kevin and Max?
57. Kevin tells Max that the compass “ is actually a rare and valuable artifact passed down for
generations. Lancelot used it, so did Sir Gawain, and for a time the Black Knight kept it on a chain next to
his heart.” What does this statement tell you about Kevin?
58. What does Freak tell Max the Medical Research Building is? How does the building relate to him?
59. Max is worried about the pain. What is Freak’s response?
Ch. 11-13
60.
Who do Max and Freak find at the address?
61.
Describe Loretta Lee.
62.
Describe Iggy Lee.
63.
Describe “Killer Kane”
64.
When school starts in September, how does Max get in all of Freak’s classes? Why is Gram
worried about this at first?
65.
Why don’t the other kids notice Max carrying Freak on his shoulders?
66.
How does Freak help Max do better in school?
67.
What does the principal tell Max when he’s called into the office?
68.
What happens to Freak in the cafeteria?
69.
Describe the “new testaments”
70.
Loretta tells Kevin his father was a magician. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
71. Max looks familiar to Iggy and Loretta. Why?
72. What do Max and Gram do to get him ready for school? How does Max feel about it?
73. What kind of extra attention has Freak been giving Max that will probably help him to do better in
school?
74. Why do you think Max has trouble speaking in front of a class? How does he compare reading to
writing? So, why does he have trouble writing?
75. What have you learned about Max’s character? (It was Kevin who had the bad Friday the 13th and
not him.)
Ch 14-16
76. What is Kevin’s explanation of what is physically wrong with him?
77.
What is all the yelling about upstairs?
78.
If Grim does get a gun, he can’t tell Gram about it. Why is this important?
79.
What makes Kevin’s gift so special to Max?
80.
Why do you think Max keeps referring to what is happening to him as make-believe or part of a
dream?
81. Why does Grim say , “I’m telling tales, my dear, not lies. Lies are mean things, and tales are meant
to entertain.”? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
82. Do you believe Max’s dad when he says, “I don’t know what they told you. It’s all a big lie, you
understand? I never killed anybody, and that’s the truth, so help me God.” Explain.
83. What is strange about the way Iggy is behaving with Kenny Kane in the house. Why do you think he
is acting differently form the wy he was when we first met him? (see ch. 11)
Ch 17-19
84.
When Killer Kane came to take Max away, where did he find him?
85.
Kenny said Max is like a chip off the old block. What did he mean?
86.
Where did Kenny take Max?
87.
After they arrived at their destination, where did they go to stay?
88.
Kenny tied up Max because
89.
Who went down into the cellar to untie Max?
90.
What happens to Loretta when she leans over to reach for the flashlight?
91.
Kenny Kane tells Max that he is a man of God. What evidence of this have you seen in the story?
92.
How do you think the police find out where Kenny has taken Max?
93.
Iggy tells Kenny that Max and “the midget kid” stole Loretta’s purse. Max tells his dad they
didn’t steal it, they just returned it. Whom do you think Kenny believes? Explain.
94. Why do you think Kenny tells Max, “You can’t trust a cripple.” What are your feelings about that
statement?
Ch. 20-end
95.
Although they don’t want Max to visit Kevin on the first day, he goes to the hospital anyway.
Why do they let him visit Kevin?
96.
Why does Kevin’s voice sound funny?
97.
Why does Kevin give Max a blank book?
98.
What was it like outside as Max makes his way to the hospital the next morning?
99.
What is your first clue that Kevin has died?
100. How does Max react to the news that Kevin is gone?
101. How does Max realize that Kevin was just making up a story about getting a new bionic body?
102. Why does Max miss Kevin’s funeral and Gwen moving away?
103. What does Max tell Killer Kane that makes him stop what he is doing to Loretta?
104. What is Killer Kane accused of doing that could lock him up for good?
105. Why won’t Gram let Max sleep in the cellar? How does Max feel about that?
106. When Mrs. Donelli displays Kevin and Max’s picture from the newspaper and someone draws
mustaches on them, how do the boys feel about it?
107. Freak likes to say, “remembering is just an invention of the mind.” What do you supposed he
means by that?