Freak the Mighty

by Rodman Philbrick

  SEPTILLION, billions of billions

  SPASTIC, how the Fair Gwen talks when she’s nervous

  STRONTIUM NITRATE, the blue in a skyrocket

  T

  TELEMETRY, how to make nurses jump every time you sneeze

  TELEVISION, the opiate of the massives

  TELLURIAN, another word for earthling

  TIME MACHINE, your imagination

  TRACHEOTOMY, a unique method of whistling the Star Trek theme

  TROGLODYTE, one who hates books

  TUBILIFEROUS, splendid, close to perfect

  U

  UFOLOGY, see under food; the study of the

  Unidentified Frying Objects

  UNICORN, a horse who makes a point

  V

  VAMOOSE, what you say to a moose when you want it to leave

  VANQUISH, to defeat in battle, preferably with dragons

  VEGAN, a human sauropod

  VISCOUS, a thick, vicious liquid

  W

  WATT, a measure of electricity equal to one joule per second

  WRITING, talking on paper

  X

  XYLOID, another word for blockhead

  Y

  YONDER, a place that always lies over the next horizon

  Z

  ZAG, what you do after you zig

  ZED, a Z in England

  ZEST, the zing in an orange

  ZIG, what you do before you zag

  ZING, what you taste when you bite into an orange

  ZIT, adolescent eruption, not to be confused with teenage volcano

  ZOO, an eighth-grade English class

  After years of writing mysteries and suspense thrillers for adults, Rodman Philbrick decided to try his hand at a novel for young readers. That novel, Freak the Mighty, was published in 1993 to great acclaim and stellar reviews. In addition to being named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and winning several state awards, it was also made into the Miramax feature film The Mighty in 1998. Rod returns to Maxwell Kane’s story in a sequel, Max the Mighty, a fast-paced cross-country odyssey.

  Rod takes young readers to the American West in his exhilarating tale of two brothers on the run, The Fire Pony, winner of the Capital Choice Award, and on to a land where nothing is as it seems in the science-fiction adventure REM World. His thought-provoking novel The Last Book in the Universe, also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, takes place in a futuristic world where no one reads anymore. School Library Journal named Rod’s most recent book, The Young Man and the Sea, a Best Book of the Year and praised its “wide-open adventure” and “heart-pounding suspense.”

  Rodman Philbrick has also written several spine-tingling series for young readers with his wife, Lynn Harnett, including The House on Cherry Street and The Werewolf Chronicles. Rod and Lynn divide their time between homes on the coast of Maine and in the Florida Keys.

  Q: You started writing when you were in the sixth grade. Did you always want to be a writer? Do you remember any of your first stories?

  A: I always wanted to be a writer, although at various times I also wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor, a lawyer, and so on. The first short story I remember completing was a five page, trick-ending thing called “The President’s Barber.” Each day the White House barber gives the president a shave with a straight razor, and each day he secretly decides whether or not he’ll let the president live, or cut his throat.

  Q: Have you always written for kids?

  A: No. For the first fifteen years of my career as a novelist, I wrote only for adult readers — mysteries, suspense novels, thrillers, and so on. Then I stumbled on the idea for a story that had been happening in my backyard, so to speak, and wrote Freak the Mighty in the summer of 1992. Since then I’ve published books for young readers as well as novels intended for adults.

  Q: Did you have a hard time getting your first book published? What other jobs did you have when you were first starting out as a writer?

  A: I had a lot of trouble getting published. I wrote my first novel at sixteen and then wrote eight more before I finally found a publisher at age 28. During those years I worked as a longshoreman, a carpenter, a roofer, and a boat-builder.

  Q: Is Freak the Mighty based on a true story?

  A: The idea for Freak the Mighty was inspired by the personality of a real boy. Like Kevin, he suffered from a disease that made him very short. Like Kevin, he had a big friend who sometimes carried him around. And, like Kevin, the real boy was highly intelligent and interested in both language and science. His mother, like the Fair Gwen, was and is quite beautiful. There the similarity ends — the plot of the story is pure fiction.

  Q: What is Kevin’s disease in Freak the Mighty?

  A: It’s called Morquio Syndrome, and it’s a relatively rare form of dwarfism with serious medical consequences. You can find more current information about Morquio Syndrome on the Internet.

  Q: Max is also an unusual character. What inspired you to create him?

  A: I’d seen my little friend riding around on the shoulders of one of his big buddies. I didn’t know the big guy, so that allowed me to invent an entirely fictional character. I thought it would be interesting if he had some darkness in his past — a father in jail, his mother dead.

  Q: The characters in this book have such interesting, evocative names. Gram and Grim. Loretta Lee. Killer Kane. How did you come up with those?

  A: Names are important to me. I can never really get started on a story until the characters have names that mean something to me. Sometimes the names come out of thin air, other times from newspaper articles or songs.

  Q: You’re a native of New England. Does Freak the Mighty take place there?

  A: In my mind the setting is a version of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where I went to high school and lived for many years.

  Q: Were you involved in the movie version of Freak the Mighty?

  A: I wrote the first screenplay, but the producers thought it was too much like the book, so another screenwriter was hired. That’s very typical of how movies get made from books, and I have no complaints. The folks at Miramax decided to change the title from Freak the Mighty to The Mighty because they thought my title might be offensive. I think they were wrong, but they meant well and should get credit for trying to bring such an offbeat story to a larger audience. I thought the movie was good. It’s different from the book, but almost all movies based on books are different from the book. That’s the nature of movies.

  Q: You wrote a sequel to this book. How did that come about?

  A: So many kids wrote to me suggesting ideas for a sequel that I decided I’d better write one myself before someone else did.

  Q: You’ve said that Freak the Mighty is about a writer learning to find his voice. How did you find yours?

  A: Over many years and over many thousands of pages. Learning to write a readable, compelling story was hard work for me.

  Q: You’ve written several books with your wife, Lynn Harnett. Is it hard to write a book with someone else?

  A: It depends on who you’re writing with! Lynn has been my only collaborator, and she is an experienced writer and an editor. When my publisher asked if we’d like to write a series of scary stories for young readers, we said “yes.” Our first series was a haunted house trilogy called The House on Cherry Street. So far we’ve written ten books together, but we continue to write books on our own as well.

  Q: Your most recent novel, The Young Man and the Sea, is also a kind of quest. What can you tell us about that book?

  A: It’s the story of Skiff Beaman, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Actually from the wrong side of Spinney Creek, on the coast of Maine. Skiff’s father is a good man, but he’s given up on life since his wife died, and Skiff sets out to rescue them both by fixing up the family lobster boat, which sinks at the dock in the first chapter. To get the necessary money to make the repair, he sets out in a very small boat at night, alone, and journeys thirty miles out to sea to try and harpoon a gia
nt bluefin tuna. The idea came to me when my younger brother Jonathan (a teenager at the time) worked as a crewman on a tuna boat. He told me tales of the giant fish and they always stuck in my mind.

  Q: Do you enjoy fishing?

  A: I’m an avid fisherman, and I practice the fine art of angling as frequently as possible. When we’re in Maine I fish mostly for striped bass and bluefish. When we’re in the Florida Keys I fish for a variety of species, including the giant tarpon. Except when I’m going to cook fish for supper, I always practice “hook and release.”

  Rodman Philbrick began writing when he was in the sixth grade. At first, he kept his stories a secret because writing didn’t seem “cool” or “normal,” but when he turned sixteen, he decided to send his first novel — about a boy who admires his best friend, a genius who eventually dies tragically — to several publishers. Although the novel was rejected, Rod didn’t give up. When he was twenty-eight, his career as a writer took off with the publication of a suspense novel for adults. Here, Rod shares some of his tips for writers of all ages.

  Rodman Philbrick,

  Age 17

  1. Getting started is easier than you think. As Freak tells Max, writing is just “talking on paper.” You can begin by telling a story to yourself — one that you don’t have to share with anyone else — either by writing in a journal or typing at your computer.

  2. Even when you’re writing fiction, you have to tell the truth. This doesn’t mean you have to write about real people or even your own life, but you can make your readers believe in the characters you’re creating if their emotions are clear. Joy makes you feel capable of flight. Anger puts murder in your heart. An insult physically hurts. These are feelings we can all relate to.

  3. A good memory helps. Again, even if you’re not writing about your own past or present experiences, the characters and situations you’re writing about need to feel real. Think about your bedroom. Where do you sit when you’re in there? What can you see from the windows? What does it smell like outside? These concrete details can help you shape a world that your readers will recognize — even if you’re writing about life on another planet.

  4. Play the “what if” game. Ask yourself a question, and find out where the answer leads you. You could start with a question about your own life: What if you found out you had a twin brother or sister that no one had told you about? What if you wanted to meet your twin but your parents said it wasn’t a good idea? What would you do? Or perhaps you could start with a question about the world in general: What if kids never had to go to school? What if they never learned to read or write? What would they do instead? What would their lives be like?

  5. Listen to the voices in your head. Sometimes when you’re thinking about nothing in particular, a word or phrase or even a full sentence enters your brain. One day, I was on a long drive from New York to Maine when I heard a voice say, “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.” Maybe you’re just daydreaming, or maybe it’s the beginning of your next story.

  Was King Arthur a true historical figure or is he a legendary character?

  No one can say for certain, but we do know that people have been telling stories about King Arthur for the last thousand years. He first appears in ancient Celtic and Welsh mythology as well as in several chronicles of early British history, including Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, written in the 12th century. Arthur’s legend was embellished and popularized in medieval French literature and then brought to English-speaking audiences in the late 1400s as Le Morte D’Arthur, or “The Death of Arthur,” by Sir Thomas Malory. Since then, there have been numerous retellings of King Arthur’s story, from the Victorian-era poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson to T.H. White’s modern classic The Once and Future King (which popularized the story of “the sword in the stone”), to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s novel The Mists of Avalon (which is written from the point of view of the women in the legends). King Arthur’s story has also been told in the 1960s Broadway musical, Camelot, and in several recent movies.

  Who were the Knights of the Round Table?

  According to legend, the one-hundred-fifty-seat Round Table was given to King Arthur as a wedding gift by King Leodegrance, the father of his bride-to-be, Guinevere, along with one hundred knights. With the help of his adviser, the wizard Merlin, Arthur selected fifty more knights to join the company, based on their merit and courage. Among the most well-known knights of legend are Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, and Sir Galahad. While the knights certainly had their share of adventures, they didn’t always get along so well. Lancelot, considered the world’s greatest knight, was also in love with Queen Guinevere, which ultimately led to the end of his friendship with King Arthur. Gawain was believed to be a model of chivalry and bravery, but when his brothers were accidentally killed by Lancelot, Gawain turned against his former friend and became his worst enemy. According to some versions of the legend, Gawain’s hatred of Lancelot eventually led to the downfall of Arthur’s kingdom. Galahad, on the other hand, was truly a perfect knight; in fact, he was so pure and good that he succeeded in completing the quest that all the other knights failed, the search for the Holy Grail.

  Was the Fair Guinevere really that fair?

  Guinevere was reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the land, so it’s easy to understand why Lancelot fell for her. When she was abducted, it was Lancelot who rescued her. Although she was married to King Arthur at the time, she fell in love with Lancelot too. (He was the greatest knight in the world, after all — and in some retellings of the legend, Arthur is much older than Guinevere, while Lancelot is closer to her age.) Arthur was so upset he tried to have her executed, but Lancelot saved her again. Ultimately, Arthur reconciled with Guinevere but he never forgave Lancelot.

  Not everyone can be Freak the Mighty, slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world, but if you follow the steps below, you just might turn your everyday life into the stuff of legend.

  1. Find a mighty steed. In the days of yore, knights and other heroes used horses for this purpose. If you can’t find a tall friend to carry you around, a bike, a skateboard, or a really big dog will do.

  2. Dress to quest. Armor isn’t a practical option these days as it’s actually very heavy. (This is why the knights needed mighty steeds to get around — it was too hard to walk with the armor on!) There are plenty of good alternatives, such as bike helmets, shin-guards, and elbow-pads. Cargo pants are also ideal for questing; their multiple pockets eliminate the need to attach saddlebags to your mighty steed.

  3. Swear an oath of fealty. Fealty is basically loyalty with an “f.” Whenever you embark on a quest with anyone, you must promise to stick together no matter what. That way, if anything goes wrong, neither of you is allowed to cut and run.

  4. Choose a quest. Whether you want to rescue a damsel in distress or search for lost treasure (many people believe the real Holy Grail is still missing, by the way), there’s an adventure around every corner if you know how to look for it.

  Maxwell Kane’s story doesn’t end with Freak the Mighty. Read about his continuing adventures in this exciting preview from Rodman Philbrick’s sequel, Max the Mighty.

  It started like this. One day after school gets out I’m kind of moping along, minding my own business. Taking the long way home because there’s nothing to do when I get there, so why hurry? I’m making sure not to step on any cracks and my brain is telling me don’t be such a moron, it doesn’t matter about cracks in the sidewalk. But my feet won’t listen and they keep being careful, because you never know about cracks, do you?

  Get a life, my brain says.

  That’s when I hear the girl screaming. She’s not saying anything, just screaming so loud it puts a shiver in my bones. It makes me freeze up and not move and wish I could be invisible, or at least small. It makes me wish I could turn my ears off like you switch off a radio, and not hear anything. Most of all I
want to run away and hide somewhere safe.

  Because you can tell from the scream that somebody wants to hurt her.

  The girl keeps screaming and my brain is going, Mind your own business. Somebody else can help her, not you.

  But there isn’t anybody else and the screaming doesn’t stop and before I know it my stupid feet start running over the cracks in the sidewalk, taking me closer and closer to trouble.

  When I get to the corner of the block, I see this gang-banger messing around in the middle of the street. He’s strutting around with his hands behind his back and he’s got this sneering expression like he knows a really funny joke and you’ll never get it.

  “Keep screaming,” he says. “Nobody cares.”

  The scream is coming from this skinny red-haired girl who’s maybe eleven or twelve years old. She’s got bright green eyes and freckles and her clothes are about two sizes too big and she’s screaming bloody murder even though nobody’s touching her.

  “You big creep!” shouts the red-haired girl. “Lunk head! Bug brain! Give it back!”

  “Louder,” the gang-banger says. “I can’t hear you.”

  Then he catches sight of me, and his grin gets wider and wider. “What do you know,” he says. “Dinosaur boy to the rescue. I thought I felt the ground shaking.”

  Before I can stop my mouth from saying something stupid it goes, “Huh?”

  The gang-banger loves it. “Huh?” he says. “Is that dinosaur talk for ‘I’m retarded’?”

  That’s when I notice the skinny red-haired girl is staring at me. It’s not a friendly kind of stare — she probably thinks I’m one of the gang-bangers, or maybe a retard like he says.

  I go, “Leave her alone.”