Max the Mighty

In the dramatic sequel to Freak the Mighty, two outsiders, Max and Worm, turn to each other for survival when Max gets blamed for a horrific crime which sends the two teens fleeing from the police and the mysterious "Undertaker."

Grade 4-7?There ought to be a law against churning out thoughtless sequels to great books. Max, introduced in Freak the Mighty (Scholastic, 1993), reluctantly runs away with Worm, the 11-year-old stepdaughter of a delusional and abusive street character he calls "the Undertaker." Hitchhiking west in search of Worm's real father, thought to be living in Chivalry, Montana, they are picked up by a widowed ex-teacher called "Hippy-Dippy," who is traveling in a '70s-style, reconditioned school bus. Their ride is interrupted by a chance meeting with an unsavory pair of con artists who recognize Max as the young teen kidnapper for whom a $10,000 bounty is being offered; the youngsters then take off and continue their journey by hopping trains. With "the Undertaker" in hot pursuit, they make it to their destination, a ghost town haunted by a catastrophic mine cave-in. There, the police, the Undertaker, Hippy-Dippy, and Max's grandfather are waiting for them. Enormous caverns of logic exist with the most obvious ones jumping out: where could the Undertaker come up with $10,000 reward money, who would take him seriously, wouldn't his checkered past spring to fluorescent light, and why would he seriously pursue this child in the first place? The emotional center?the gripping relationship between Max and Freak?is sorely missing here; readers are unlikely to connect with any of the cartoonlike characters assembled. The Hollywood ending is also lacking any semblance of credibility. Instead of this title, purchase an additional copy of the first book.?Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this sequel to Freak the Mighty (1993), Max, the freakishly gigantic child, comes to the rescue of Rachel, called Worm because of her devotion to books. When he takes her away from her abusive stepfather, the Undertaker, Max is accused of kidnapping, and the two embark on a cross-country odyssey to find her real father. Pursued by police and the vengeful Undertaker, they make their way to Montana, where Worm's father was killed years before in a mine disaster and where they face a final confrontation with the Undertaker in the depths of the mine. While the book is populated by stock characters from central casting (an aging hippie in a '60s-style bus, a train-hopping hobo with a heart of gold, a pair of charming con artists, and, of course, the evil Undertaker), Philbrick avoids making it into a cartoon. The story moves along at a good clip, the friendship between Max and Worm is warm, and the other characters give the proceedings a touch of melodrama. Despite Max's certainty that happy endings don't happen, everything is tied up satisfyingly at the end. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.