Freak the Mighty is a young adult fiction novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel "Max the Mighty" in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, very slow, but kind-hearted kid and his friend Kevin Avery, nicknamed “Freak,” who is physically crippled but very intelligent. (In the Book, Kevin's last name is Avery. However, in the movie, his last name was changed to Dillon. Kevin is diagnosed with Morquio syndrome.)