Max the Mighty

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. Who steals Rachel’s backpack?

2. What unusual object is in Rachel’s backpack?

3. What’s Rachel’s nickname at school?

4. What does Rachel do to avoid people?

5. What book does Max bring to Rachel at her house?

6. Who physically attacks Rachel’s mother?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Where does Max live?

2. How did Rachel get her nickname?

3. Why does Max pick Rachel up and carry her out of her house?

Paired Resource

Interview with Rodman Philbrick

• In this 14-minute video, the author of Max the Mighty talks about wanting to be an author as a child, how he learned to write, how he uses suspense, and what advice he would offer to young writers on how to master the craft.
• Includes mention and brief reading from another of Philbrick’s books for middle-grade readers
• Around 6:50, the author discusses the concept of voice in writing. How is voice evident in the opening chapters of Max the Mighty?

Chapters 7-15

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the vehicle in which Max and Rachel leave town?

2. What’s Dip’s full nickname?

3. What attacks Max when he sits on the grass?

4. Who joins Dip, Max, and Rachel on their drive?

5. How much is the reward for information leading to Max’s arrest?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Max and Rachel run away?

2. Why can’t they buy tickets for a bus out of town?

3. Who is Dip, and why is he driving a bus?

4. What does Frank do to get free groceries?

5. How do Frank and Joanie betray Max and Rachel? Why do they do it?

Paired Resource

“Furthur: The Bus Then & Now”

• The colorfully painted bus that started the hippie movement, Furthur transported a motley group of wanderers, rogues, artists, and intellectuals from the West Coast to the New York World’s Fair in 1964. The passengers’ colorful clothing, wild hairdos, and counter-culture attitudes marked the beginnings of a social revolution that would change America and much of the world. The site also contains a photo of the travelers standing in front of the bus. (Teacher-appropriate; not student facing; the page mentions LSD and its psychological and philosophical effects on society at the time.)

“The Art of the Con and Why People Fall for It”

• A brief article on con artists and their ability to dupe unsuspecting marks
• How does “the art of the con” play a role in this part of Max’s journey? In what ways might the concept of being conned connect to the theme of Comforting Beliefs and Powerful Truths?

Chapters 16-20

1. How do Max and Rachel travel after they leave Dip?

2. Who saves them from a pack of ravenous dogs?

3. What’s the name of the town where Rachel and Max end up?

4. What are the roofs of buildings in the town made of?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Where does Joe believe his home is, and how does he feel about that?

2. What idea about traveling aboard trains do Joe and Max agree on?

3. What’s wrong with the town where Rachel and Max end up?

Chapters 21-30

Reading Check

1. Inside an abandoned saloon, what animal surprises Max and Rachel?

2. What does Rachel believe is a source of magic in the world?

3. Whom does Rachel believe is in the mine?

4. Which two people arrive to help Rachel and Max?

5. What does Rachel drop into the vertical mine shaft?

6. Who rescues the Undertaker from the mine?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Rachel know where her father is?

2. How do Rachel and Max find their way out of the mine tunnels?

3. Why does Rachel run back into the mine?

4. What happens to the Undertaker?

5. Where do Rachel and her mother go to live?

Paired Resources

“Montana Mines”

• This brief history of mining in Montana includes dozens of photographs of mines, inside and out, and miners at work.
• In Chivalry, the train station stands directly against the entrance to the mine. Why would the railroad do that? The station was lavishly built; what does this suggest about the wealth of the mine? Since the mine accident, no one lives in town. Why would they leave, if there’s still ore to mine?

“Going Underground in the Mine with Endless Tunnels!”

• This 10-minute video, part of a series of video journals by a mine explorer, shows a long-abandoned Arizona gold-and-silver mine that contains many of the dangers and the cramped, closed-in feeling that Rachel and Max experience. (The mine shown isn’t endless, but it might feel that way to some observers.) Note the brief discussion of air flowing through the tunnel, an aspect of mining that proves vital to Rachel and Max’s escape from the Chivalry mine. This resource relates to the theme Doing the Right Thing Instead of the Safe Thing.
• What would it be like to work in a mine? Watching the video, does the main tunnel feel open and spacious or small and cramped? How would you feel if you were Max, running along such a tunnel, chasing after Rachel’s receding miner’s light?

Recommended Next Reads

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

• The first book in Max’s two-book set, Freak the Mighty traces the friendship between Kevin, a brilliant boy with a rare childhood disease that stunts his growth, and Max, a huge kid who doubts his own intelligence. Like Rachel, Kevin is a fellow outcast, and Max must grow as a person simply to meet the challenges of their unusual friendship.
• Freak the Mighty on SuperSummary

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

• This 2009 adventure novel for middle-grade readers follows a 12-year-old boy as he tries to rescue his brother, whom their uncle kidnaps and sells to the Union Army during the US Civil War. The book takes a hard look at child abuse and children’s vulnerability to adult authority figures; it also explores the parallel problems faced by people escaping slavery. In its setting and characters, the story pays homage to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• The work won the 2010 Newbery Honor and has been adapted for the stage.
• Shared topics include domestic abuse and taking risks to help another person.
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg on SuperSummary