Freak the Mighty

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Where do Max and Freak meet for the first time?

2. Where in his grandparents’ house does Max live and what does he call this space?

3. What does Max help Freak with as he moves down the street?

4. What does Freak call his mother?

5. Why does Max spit up a “yucky mess”?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Max kick anyone who tries to touch him at daycare?

A) He isn’t able to control his body’s movements.

B) He says he knows what a rotten lie hug stuff is.

C) He says he doesn’t want to be touched or bothered.

D) He finds it funny when people avoid him, so they won’t get hurt.

2. Why does Max say he thinks Grim wants to keep him under observation?

A) He says Grim thinks he’s at a dangerous age and may start setting fires or hurting animals.

B) He says Grim thinks he’ll try to contact his dad again and move back in with him.

C) He says Grim thinks Max shouldn’t be around Gram alone because he can’t be trusted.

D) He says Grim thinks that Max is in danger of hurting himself if they don’t watch him.

3. What does Max say he’s sure he remembered when he showed Freak where he lived?

A) He says he remembers that there were movers watching Max and Freak talk.

B) He says he’s sure that it started raining when they were flying the ornithopter.

C) He says he remembers that Freak cried when the ornithopter broke.

D) He says he’s sure that Freak never hit him with his crutch.

4. Why does Freak light up when Max asks him to explain what knights wore into battle?

A) He says he thinks he was a knight in a past life and he knows he would excel in chivalry.

B) He says he’s very interested in how the knights lived in castles and battled in wars when they were alive.

C) He says he thinks it’s amazing that knights were already trying to exceed the limitations of the human body 100 years ago.

D) He says he thinks his father was a knight and that he wants to continue the family tradition.

5. Max says people act as though what circumstance should be a secret, and that everyone tells him what?

A) He says people act like his being held back a grade should be a secret, and that everyone tells him he’s too quiet.

B) He says people act like his living with his grandparents should be a secret, and that everyone tells him he’s not smart enough for his grade.

C) He says people act like his mom being gone should be a secret, and that everyone tells him he’s too small for his age.

D) He says people act like his dad being in prison should be a secret, and that everyone tells him he looks like his dad.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Grim refer to Max’s father and why?

2. Why does Max run away from Freak after he points at him?

3. How does Max say Freak speaks?

4. Why does Max feel a fist tightening in his stomach when he thinks about having dinner with Freak and his mother?

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Who do Freak and Max encounter at the fireworks show?

2. What does Max do to help Freak see the fireworks?

3. What does Freak tell the cops when they remove Freak and Max from the pond?

4. What does Grim call Max once he returns home from the fireworks show?

5. What does Freak use to lead him and Max around on their adventures?

6. What is inside the building that Freak calls “the Fortress”?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Freak laugh so loud that people stare at him and Max?

A) Max tells him that he couldn’t take Blade and his crew by himself after Freak gave the gang attitude.

B) Max tells him that they won the lottery after they bought a ticket on their own in secret.

C) He learns he gets to reenact a medieval battle and dress up like a knight for a day.

D) He realizes that he and Max are related and their mothers were sisters.

2. How do Freak and Max avoid Blade after the fireworks show?

A) They walk into the millpond where Blade sputters in the water and must be rescued by his gang.

B) They run to Gwen’s car and hide while they wait for her to return.

C) They cut through the backyards by the millpond and quickly escape to Freak’s backyard.

D) They walk into a fireworks tent where they are able to lose Blade and the gang in the crowd.

3. Why does Max say he’s unable to find “archetype” in Freak’s dictionary?

A) He says he doesn’t try to find it and waits for Freak just to tell him what he means by using the word.

B) He says his dictionary that he bought is smaller and doesn’t include an entry for “archetype.”

C) He says that Freak ripped the page where “archetype” would be out of the dictionary to see if he was paying attention.

D) He says that the letter R looks like a backwards E to him, making it hard to read unless he really squints and thinks.

4. Why does Grim call Freak “poor Kevin”?

A) He thinks Freak has no money and hangs out with Max because they can afford to feed him.

B) He pities Freak for his home life where his mom must constantly work to make ends meet.

C) He pities Freak for his disability and doesn’t think he’s as smart as Max says he is.

D) He thinks Freak is mentally ill and isn’t aware of his surroundings because of the way he talks.

5. Why does Freak want to go on an adventure in the middle of the night, and what is the goal of the adventure?

A) He says he wants to go to the Fortress to see what’s done in the parts of the building he’s not allowed to enter.

B) He says he saw one of Blade’s gang members throw a woman’s purse into a drain and he wants to retrieve it.

C) He says he wants to find out what the grocery store looks like inside when everyone else is asleep.

D) He says he wants to go to Blade’s house to get revenge for his chasing them after the fireworks show.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Grim say when Gram asks Max to stay away from Blade and his gang?

2. What does Freak do every morning over the summer?

3. Why does Freak make Max swear an oath?

4. How do Max and Freak work together during their adventure in the middle of the night?

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. Where do Max and Freak take the purse after they find it in the storm drain?

2. What does Freak ask his mom to talk to the school administration about?

3. What does Max receive on Friday the 13th?

4. Where does Freak end up going during lunchtime?

5. What does Grim tell Max about his father?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Loretta say Freak’s dad was a magician?

A) She says it to show her admiration for Freak’s father’s well-known career as a magician.

B) She says it to keep Freak and Max in the apartment while she waits for Iggy to get home.

C) She says it to distract Freak and Max while Iggy steals their money.

D) She says it to claim that once Freak’s father heard about a birth defect, he disappeared.

2. How does Grim convince Gram to allow Max to be reassigned to Freak’s classes?

A) He tells Gram that they should give it a try as a favor to Gwen for looking after Max when he’s at her house.

B) He tells Gram that they should give it a try because Max has nothing better to do since he doesn’t engage in his schoolwork.

C) He tells Gram that they should give it a try because Max will receive scholarship funding if he’s in the advanced classes.

D) He tells Gram that they should give it a try because Max needs a friend and he’s never had one.

3. How does Max say writing feels for him?

A) He says his hand feels huge and clumsy and the pencil feels like a slippery piece of spaghetti.

B) He says his head feels huge and full and the pencil is the way he gets his thoughts out in a quiet way.

C) He says writing makes him nervous because he has gotten poor grades in the subject.

D) He says writing is his favorite thing to do at school because it makes the teachers think he’s actually trying.

4. Why is Max worried about what he did to Mrs. Addison when she tells him about his father?

A) He blacked out when she said his father wanted to know something and he thinks she’ll tell Grim and Gram what happened.

B) He blacked out when she said his father wanted to know something and he thinks he hit her because she’s crying.

C) He blacked out when she said his father wanted to know something and he regains consciousness back at home.

D) He blacked out when she said his father wanted to know something and she wasn’t in the room when he regained consciousness.

5. How does Max feel about his Christmas present from Freak?

A) He thinks the gift is amazing and that everything else he received is just extra.

B) He thinks that he’s going to have to pretend he likes it and dreads the coming days.

C) He thinks Freak’s gift is really from Gwen, since he told her what he wanted.

D) He thinks the gift is amazing and he wants to show it to his other classmates.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do Max’s new classmates chant about him during his first day?

2. How does Freak explain his lunchtime incident once he’s back to ordering Max around?

3. Why does Max hear Gram yelling?

4. What does Gram say Max received at Christmas as a kid?

5. Who returns on Christmas Eve and what do they tell Max?

Chapters 16-21

Reading Check

1. What does Kane say Max is and force him to agree with?

2. Where does Kane take Max?

3. What does Kane swear to Max using the Bible?

4. How do the police know to look for Max?

5. How does Loretta help Max and what does she say?

6. What does Grim tell Max that Kane is?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Max think that Kane doesn’t need a suit of armor?

A) He thinks that Kane is big enough that no one can beat him.

B) He thinks that Kane is honorable enough to not need a suit of armor.

C) He thinks that Kane is cooler than any knight he’s ever heard of.

D) He thinks that Kane is unworthy of a suit of armor.

2. What does Kane say to try to explain to Max that he’s a loving person?

A) He says he knits in his free time and has made many blankets for those in need.

B) He says he cries at sad movies when he watches them.

C) He says he wanted to have another baby with Max’s mother.

D) He says he has paid Loretta and Iggy’s rent for years.

3. How does Kane explain why he was imprisoned?

A) He says he was in the wrong place at the right time and Iggy turned on him.

B) He says adults were mean to him like kids in school and blamed him for what happened.

C) He says his own parents conspired to make sure he went away because they hated him.

D) He says the police mistook him for another person and he paid the price.

4. How does Kane plan to make a living after he moves with Max?

A) He plans to work at the local grocery store until he can save up money.

B) He plans to sell advertisements for a company he was connected with in prison.

C) He plans to become a traveling preacher who spreads the gospel to those in prison.

D) He plans to become a magician like Freak’s father to honor his friend.

5. How does Kane describe the police officers looking for Max?

A) He says they’re like bugs and that they’re not smart but there are a lot of them and they are determined.

B) He says they’re judging him by his past instead of genuinely trying to understand his intentions with Max.

C) He says they’re really just hired by Grim and Gram and wouldn’t be bothering to look for Max otherwise.

D) He says they’re well acquainted now that he has reformed and he will be happy to clear the situation up with them.

6. How does Max get Kane to stop his assault on Loretta?

A) He says he called the police and they’re on the way to arrest Kane.

B) He says he’ll go with Kane wherever he wants if they leave immediately.

C) He says that he saw Kane killing his mother the way he’s killing Loretta.

D) He says his mother is still alive and has been in hiding for years.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Max remember the night his mother died and what Kane did when Max tried to stop him?

2. How does Kane respond to Max’s revelation?

3. How does Freak come to Max’s rescue?

4. Who is Max worried about when he breaks free of the basement with Freak, and why?

5. How does Max try to convince Gram that he shouldn’t attend school?

6. Why isn’t Max comforted by Grim’s statement that Max has his mother’s heart?

Chapters 22-25

Reading Check

1. Who is turning one year old around the same time as Freak’s birthday?

2. What will Freak be getting for his birthday and how will it help him?

3. What does Freak ask Max to do with the blank book?

4. How does Max discover that Freak is gone?

5. What does Max do once he returns home?

6. Who does Max run into in the winter?

Multiple Choice

1. Why does Freak tell Max that they shouldn’t expect Gwen to understand Freak the Mighty?

A) He says that you can’t really get what it means to be Freak the Mighty unless you outwitted Kane.

B) He says that you can’t really get what it means to be Freak the Mighty unless you fought Blade and his gang.

C) He says that you can’t really get what it means to be Freak the Mighty unless you are the same age as Freak and Max.

D) He says that you can’t really get what it means to be Freak the Mighty unless you are Freak the Mighty.

2. What makes Max realize that Freak isn’t feeling well during the birthday party?

A) Freak doesn’t want to show Max around his new computer.

B) Freak doesn’t want to go outside after dinner like they normally do to go on adventures.

C) Freak doesn’t eat much and asks Max to blow out the birthday candles.

D) Freak doesn’t laugh or make any jokes like he normally does.

3. Why does Freak say that he won’t be coming home?

A) He says he’s going to a hospital across the country with specialists who know more about his condition.

B) He says he’s going to the Bionic Unit for his special operation.

C) He says he’s going to stay in the hospital for a few weeks so the doctors and researchers can observe him.

D) He says he’s moving closer to his father, who will help Gwen take care of Freak.

4. Why does Max put the blank book in Freak’s pyramid box once he returns home?

A) He puts it in the pyramid box for safekeeping and good luck.

B) He puts it in the box for Freak to get it back when he comes home.

C) He puts it in the box because he’s angry at Freak and doesn’t want to look at it.

D) He puts it in the box because he needs to think about what to write.

5. Why does Max say that he just “goes nuts” all of a sudden when he returns to the hospital?

A) He realizes from the way the nurses are talking and looking at him that he’s sick too.

B) He realizes from the way the nurses are talking and looking at him that Freak died.

C) He learns that Gwen and Freak moved in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.

D) He learns that Grim and Gram have been at the hospital making end of life arrangements.

6. Why does Dr. Spivak tell Max that she doesn’t think Freak lied?

A) She says she thinks the researchers were really trying their best to help Kevin.

B) She says she thinks Gwen told him the researchers would give him a new body.

C) She says she thinks his condition affected his memory and brain function.

D) She says she thinks he needed something to hope for and invented the bionic body story.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Dr. Spivak explain what really happened to Freak?

2. How does Max say he felt after Freak died?

3. Why does Grim say Max should count himself lucky?

4. Why does Max say he hated every minute of school once he returned?

5. What does Max say he wrote down in the blank book?