Friends aren’t just for fun; they’re also for helping each other. Friends do this not by being the same, but by being different. Their strengths add to each other and help to make up for any weaknesses. For Max and Freak, the differences literally are huge: Max is a giant 12-year-old with what he believes is a small brain, while Freak has a tiny body but a gigantic intelligence. Their differences fuel their friendship in constructive ways.

At first, Max helps Freak get around by pulling him on his toy wagon, but soon Max realizes that he can carry Freak, who’s very lightweight, on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Freak at first makes fun of Max for being an oaf—he compares Max to a pea-brained dinosaur—but soon he realizes that Max has potential that Freak can bring out by helping Max with reading and thinking.

Together they enjoy the 4th of July fireworks show, and they evade a dangerous street gang, with Freak the lookout and navigator and Max the engine of transport. Freak knows where a lost purse is located, but he can’t retrieve it by himself; with Max to help, they bring up the purse from a storm drain and return it to its rightful owner,

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