Written by Jackie McKim
Fourth Grade Teacher
Coastal Ridge
Elementary School
York, Maine

FOR THE TEACHER

The Nothing, Vydel, The Cloud People, Morf. These are just a few of the unique characters who come alive in Rodman Philbrick's fantasy adventure, REM World. What a great read-aloud this is for third, fourth and fifth grade. This is the story of an overweight 11 year old boy, Arthur Woodbury. He is teased by his classmates and called names like Biscuit Butt and Jelly Belly. He loves to eat, yet wants desperately to lose weight. Arthur Woodbury saves the universe, loses weight and earns the name Arthur Courage.

Each chapter evolves into a dangerous feat for Arthur and Morf, his charming opossum-like little guide, while containing a message of courage, strength and hope for this 11 year old. Arthur climbs the "perilous precipice" and because of encouragement from the Cloud People and Leela, the Cloud Master's daughter, he learns to fly. This is only one of the many examples of overcoming fear that Arthur learns while visiting a fantasy land called REM World.

The characters, settings and situations keep the children riveted and always wanting "just one more chapter." This is an excellent book for discussions of feelings and courage, vocabulary enrichment, making predictions, and producing exciting projects. Not only do the children love hearing it, but it is a true joy for the teacher to read and share with students. It is a wonderful first read-aloud of the year. Children often are so excited about this book, many will immediately reread it. Here's a book children love to hear and teachers love to read.

And the last question. Is this a dream? If so, what about the Oreos?

SUMMARY

This is the story of an 11-year old boy, Arthur Woodbury, who buys the REM Sleep Device from the back page of a comic book. It promises that he can lose weight in his sleep. The story begins with Arthur Woodbury celebrating his 11th birthday. He eats the whole cake, grabs eleven Oreo cookies and heads to the basement to try out his Device. "If only he could go to sleep fat and wake up thin!"

And so, the story and Arthur's adventures begin.

Arthur opens the package and the sleep device opens on its own and becomes a helmet. He reads the instructions (only the first page), puts the helmet on and lies down on the workbench. He hears faint sounds in the helmet like" waves breaking on a faraway beach.," And then... he falls asleep. Arthur wakes up and he is still fat. He throws the helmet on the floor, but continues to hear the ocean, even without the helmet. Arthur decides to investigate the noise and goes out through the bulkhead. When he looks back he sees his house has disappeared, and finds he is standing on "the hard shiny mud of a beach at low tide." It is here that he meets Morf, his REM World guide. Morf asks him where his helmet is and Arthur tells him that it is still in the basement. Morf tells him he needs it to get back home and terrible things will happen without it. Arthur begins to learn the lesson of reading all of the instructions.

Morf and Arthur go on to meet the first of many unique characters, the Frog People. They visit Mud City with the Frog People. Here are "beautiful and elegant" mud castles with mud-dribble towers and dribble pictures of Galump's Frog People ancestors. The menu is the The Frog People's Feast. Arthur learns to eat sea vegetables and sea grapes, which strangely enough resemble familiar foods.

Arthur is charged with saving the world from the Nothing, which existed before the Everything, and is always trying to come back to "unravel the universe." Arthur moves from dangerous adventure to dangerous adventure. And each time, Arthur thinks he cannot do what is required of him to survive and save the world. Vydel and the World Below are an ever-present threat. There is the legend of the end of the world which tells of a visitor who must do battle with the Nothing even if he fails. Arthur is that visitor! Arthur learns that he must go through Vydel's Mouth and the only way to do that is to learn to fly. Leela, daughter of the Cloud Master teaches him all he needs to know.

As the fantasy continues, Arthur is confronted with many challenges. He learns that he can do what he once thought impossible. He faces dangers such as the "huge crow-like birds" that come out of Vydel's mouth; the borons, who look like giant soccer balls, with wings and huge claws the size of Arthur. (They really are silly creatures who keep falling down); and huge bees the "size of a small flying attack dogs." He goes inside clouds, survives a tidal wave, and more!

Arthur must save the world, the Universe and all Universes from The Nothing. And, with each challenge, he becomes more courageous. And, Morf can help. All Arthur has to do is ask him to change to something else, and he will.

And finally, Arthur, through his courage, saves all and returns home. The scared, unhappy, fat eleven-year-old boy who hated exercise has learned "to do stuff like pull-ups and row a boat, and fly, and ride the giants, and save the universe." The boy who ate his whole birthday cake has learned that he could eat things like "sea vegetables and clouds" and not be hungry any more. The helmet worked! "He's gone down into the basement fat and he'd come back thin. Gloriously , triumphantly thin. Well, not exactly thin, but not fat either. Certainly not fat."

The story ends, "from this day on, he had a new name, one he'd earned for himself."
"Arthur Courage."

Activities

1. Before reading each chapter,copy the vocabulary words from that chapter on the easel. Children take turns looking up definitions, writing them on the easel, and presenting them to the class before the reading. Each child then enters the words and definitions in his/her Writing Journal for future use. Review the words periodically. The vocabulary, listed by chapter, is attached.
2. Book Discussion:. Questions about feelings, courage, teasing and treatment of others seem to automatically present themselves throughout the book Here are some starters:
   1. At the end of each chapter, ask for a prediction of what will happen next.
   2. Discuss the names of the characters as they come up. Why do you think the author gave the name Morf to the character? What is the significance of this and the other names? What about Arthur Woodbury? Do you think this is a significant name?
   3. How does Rod Philbrick keep you wanting to read on?
   4. What is the theme of this story? Is there more than one main problem?
   5. Ask for personal connections, such as Arthur's feelings in the beginning of the story. Have you ever been teased? How did you feel?
   6. What does Arthur learn about food? Does he change his food preferences?
   7. What does he learn about exercise and how?
   8. Why do you think he looked thin to his mom in the last chapter?
   9. Was he really thin? Or even thinner? How could that have happened?
   10. Why was he now "Arthur Courage?"
   11. Explain what happened to the Oreos.
   12. Why do you think the author chose the words REM World for the title?
   13. Was this all a dream?
3. Transform your classroom into REM World. Discuss the idea of creating your own REM World with your students and help them brainstorm how they would go about this. List possibilities on easel and assign (by request) characters and other ideas. Continue to add to the list as students think of additional ideas. Attached is a list of possible characters and items to be made by the children.
4. Each child makes a character by having his/her body traced on large white butcher paper. Complete the character by using markers or paint. On the day of a special culminating activity, such as an author visit or Feast of the Frog People, tape the characters to children's chairs. Invite other classes to enjoy the new world.
5. Celebrate a Feast of the Frog People. Using real food, have a feast like the one in the story.
6. Write a new ending.

See Also: Max The Mighty Guide || Study Guide by Dr. Alexa Sandmann || The Mighty Film Study Guide

Written by Arthea J. S. Reed, Ph.D., Professor and Chairperson of Education, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC

"I wrote Freak the Mighty because Max, the mighty half of Freak the Mighty, insisted and he's bigger than I am." - Rodman Philbrick

To the Teacher

"Freak the Mighty" is an unusual, well-written young adult novel. Although likely to be classified as realistic fiction, it has many elements of fantasy and fairy tale: the handicapped hero who is bigger than life, exciting quests, events that have numerous levels of meaning, and magical moments. Philbrick's novel of two handicapped and troubled young men, one smaller than a yardstick and the other outgrowing size thirteen shoes, is about the strength of friendship, family, intelligence, and life. The poignant story is told from the perspective of Max, who through the life and death of his friend Kevin, learns to respect his own intelligence and endure his own frightening heritage.

Philbrick's novel, most appropriate for middle school readers, has won significant critical acclaim and is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. It is an excellent book to teach and to discuss. Not only will adolescent readers devour it and rejoice in the victories of Max and Kevin, but teachers will love all its teachable themes.

Summary

The novel's plot is circular. In the first two sentences Max states, "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." But it is not until the novel's final page that we learn why and how Max wrote a book about the adventures of Freak the Mighty.

In the first chapter, we meet the cast of characters: learning disabled and very large Max, severely handicapped and incredibly intelligent Kevin, Gram, and appropriately named Grim, Max's grandfather. We learn that there is a Him in Max's life, someone his grandparents fear and someone Max resembles.

Max and Kevin had known each other in day care, but do not meet again until the summer before eighth grade, when Max, who is so big he is exploding out of his clothes, places Kevin, whose body is too small for his growing organs, on his shoulders and walks into a pond to out wit Tony D. and his punkster pals. From that moment, with Kevin providing the directions and Max the mobility and strength, they are known as Freak the Mighty. All summer they rescue fair maidens and slay dragons. Loretta, one of the maidens, turns out to be a friend of Kenny Kane, Max's father who is imprisoned for murdering Max's mother.

That Christmas, Kenny Kane, newly released from prison, kidnaps Max, and drags him bound and gagged to the basement of a burned-out building. Suddenly, Freak rolls down through a basement window holding a big blaster squirt gun he claims is filled with sulfuric acid. He squirts it in Kenny's eyes. Max puts Freak on his shoulders, and they run for their lives.

After the recapture of Killer Kane, life becomes quieter for both boys. On his birthday, Kevin suffers a seizure and is rushed to the hospital. He gives Max a blank book asking him to fill it up with their adventures. When Max learns the next day that Kevin has died, he lashes out at Kevin's doctor, but she explains that no surgery was ever possible and that Kevin knew it. At first Max hides from his friend's death in his room down under. Finally, after many months he begins to write the story of Freak the Mighty on the pages of the book Kevin had given him.

Thinking About the Book

1. Why is Max convinced he does not have a brain? Is his assessment of himself as a "butthead" correct? Do our opinions of ourselves affect what others think of us? Do others' opinions of us affect how we feel about ourselves?

2. How does Kevin prove to Max he is not a "butthead"? How does Kevin help Max learn how to read and write?

3. Why is Freak's Christmas gift of the pyramid shaped box and handwritten dictionary so important to Max?

4. Why does Max call the first chapter of his book, "The Unvanquished Truth"?

5. Why do we care about what happens to Max and Kevin? How does the author make us care about them?

6. How does the location of Max's room "down under" relate to how he feels about himself?

7. How does Freak get Max out of his room? What is "magic" about their quests?

8. Does Freak really believe that he will be "the first bionically improved human" by having a body transplant? What does Freak mean when he says "you can remember anything, whether it happened or not"?

9. Why does Max agree with his father, who says, "I, Kenneth David Kane, do swear by all that's Holy that I did not murder this boy's mother"? What does the story Kenny tells about the "injustice" that was done him, tell us about him?

10. How are Kevin and Kenny similar in how they deal with the world? How are they different?

11. What is the irony in calling the tenements the New Testaments? What is ironic about Killer Kane posing as the Reverend Kenneth David Kane? Why is Kenny's remark that you should never trust a cripple ironic?

12. Why does Loretta try to save Max? What does this tell us about her? Why is Max not surprised when he sees her drunk at the end of the novel? How does she finally save Max?

13. Why is the scene with Kevin and the squirt gun funny? Does Kevin recognize the humor? Does Max?

14. With whom is Max angry when he realizes that Kevin is dead? Why? What helps him get over his anger?

Student Activities

1. Help students search for aspects of the novel that make it fantasy-like: the bigger-than-life hero, the quests, the magical moments, and meanings beyond actual words on the page.

2. Discuss with students the meaning of the word "sobriquet." Identify the sobriquets used in the book. Suggest that students write a sobriquet for a partner reflecting a positive quality in that per son.

3. Each day, write one of the many interesting quotes from the book on the chalkboard. Have students write about what they think the quote means, write a poem that includes the quote or helps explain the quote, or tell a story that incorporates the quote or uses the quote as a moral.

4. Explore some of the novel's themes: the importance of friendship and family, the difference between myth and reality, recognizing the worth in all humans, the importance of positive self concept, and dealing with death.

About Rodman Philbrick

William Rodman Philbrick has used the name W. R. Philbrick for eight detective novels and mysteries and the name William Dantz for four medical and technical thrillers, all for adult readers. Freak the Mighty is his first young adult novel. According to Rod, the name to which he answers, he wrote the novel "because Max, the mighty half of Freak the MIghty, insisted and he's bigger than I am."

Rod had no intention or inclination to write a young adult novel until an editor asked him if he had any stories for young readers. At first he said "no," but on the ride back from Manhattan to Maine, the voice, story, and plot for Freak the Mighty unrolled in his head.

The inspiration for Kevin was his son's close friend who had died tragically the previous year. According to Rod, "It was my way of dealing with the loss." The real Kevin had the same medical condition as Freak in the novel, but a very different personality. His mother was the inspiration for Gwen. Once he had the story in his head, Rod wrote the entire novel in one draft in about six weeks.

Rod's second young adult novel, The Fire Pony, will be published by Scholastic in 1996. He and his wife, Lynn Harnett, have collaborated on a mass-market paperback, haunted house series in three-volumes called The House on Cherry Street. It is clear that Rodman Philbrick has many young adult voices inside his head and they will appear in numerous future novels.

Written by Arthea J. S. Reed, Ph.D., Professor and Chairperson of Education, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC

TOP

THE BOOK

In this much anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed Freak the Mighty, readers once again encounter Maxwell Kane. Max, the giant-sized but mild-mannered young man who in the earlier book befriended a tiny disabled genius named Kevin, in this book finds himself coming to the rescue of another outcast nicknamed "Worm" because of her interest in reading. When Worm's well-being is threatened by abusive stepfather, Max joins in her search for her real father, little suspecting the danger and adventure which await them both in Chivalry, Montana.

THEME

One word which recurs frequently throughout the Worm in her escape from The Undertaker. is truth. Each character in the novel, however, has a different idea of what the truth is. Explore the meanings of the word "truth" as used by: Undertaker (Worm's stepfather), Max, and Worm. Refer to some of the following pages for references to this important word: pp. 18, 23, 24, 71, 79, 83, 166. 5.

CONFLICT

Conflict operates on many levels in this novel. Of course, there is the conflict between Worm and her stepfather and the conflict between Max and Worm and the bullies. However, the inner conflict experienced by Max is perhaps the most pointed of all. Why is Max uncertain about his actions? (pp. 13-14). Why does he question whether or not he should interfere in Worm's life?

SETTING

The setting in this story shifts from one place to another with great rapidity. Construct a map which traces the route taken by Max and Worm as they hitchhike out of town and later jump a train to Chivalry.

CHARACTERIZATION

In the opening pages of the story, it becomes readily apparent that appearances can be deceiving. For example, even though Max is a large person, he does not like to fight; he is quite different from the bullies he confronts. Compare the outward appearance of Max, Worm, The Undertaker, the Hippy Dippy, and/or other characters with their inner selves.

DISCUSS

1. What is so special about the helmet Worm is wearing when Max first encounters her (p. 5)? What clues are provided by the author as to the literal and symbolic meaning of the miner's helmet?
   
2. This book is a sequel. Does it stand on its own as a her story? Do readers need to have read Freak the Mighty in order to fully appreciate this story?
   
3. Max says, "when you get into trouble, head for home"
   (p. 27). Is home the best place for Max? For Worm?
   
4. Like Huck Finn, Max breaks the rules when he assists Worm in her escape from The Undertaker. Is it ever right to break the rules and disobey the orders of an adult? Under what circumstances would it be permissible for someone to do something illegal?
   
5. Worm reports that there is magic in the world (p. 63). She insists that book magic seeps into the real world (pp. 121-122) and believes in people even if people do not believe in magic. What does she mean? What kind of magic can transfer from the world of the story to the real world?

1. Write a letter to a friend who is about to visit you in this new world. Tell them the rules and regulations. Give them all the necessary cautions. Use at least two quotes.
   
2. Devise a character chart. Include who the character is and their relationship to others, where and how they live, and include a couple of quotes.
   
3. Ills of society. The society that you are reading about has many flaws. List the flaws on a chart and provide a quote to support what you have said. You might have a solution column of how you might address this problem. (Racism is one example)
   
4. Psychoanalysis. Imagine you are a psychiatrist. Write questions and answers to a session you might have with one or more of the characters.
   
5. Paint his world. Do a series of paintings of things Spaz would have witnessed. Describe what it is and include a couple of quotes to relay its meaning. This should be artistically done.
   
6. Archeology. Imagine you are archeologist attempting to uncover the history behind Spaz's world. Write the history and support what you have said with the text.
   
7. Literary analysis. Imagine you are a book reviewer. Write a review of the book using an in-depth literary analysis of style, setting. Characters, plot, climax and resolution.
   
8. Getting at the author's message. Uncover what you believe to be the author's purpose for writing the book. Generously support what you have said.