Well, the short answer to this question is, a lot! Specifically, during that summer, which Max refers to as the "barefoot summer", he grows a great deal. This is significant because he is already a very large boy for his age, which makes him the subject of much teasing. Also, this is when Max meets Kevin when Kevin and his mother, the Fair Gwen of Air, move in next door.
Kevin and Max form a close friendship, so close that the two become known by the single nickname Freak the Mighty . Kevin (Freak) stands out due to both his amazing intelligence and his physical deformity--he suffers from a disease that keeps his body very small. Max (the Mighty) has been in a special education class. We are led to believe that this is due more to emotional trauma (his father killed his mother) than to actual limited intelligence). Together,...
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Kevin and Max accomplish heroic feats against the town bullies, Max's father (who escapes from prison and kidnaps Max), and conventional stereotypes that often make kids who are different less than human.
What happened during the summer between 7th and 8th grade in Freak the Mighty?
Above all else, Kevin and Max are reunited after many years apart: They become best friends and then together, with Kevin atop Max's shoulders, they team up to become "Freak the Mighty." They have several memorable adventures, first on Independence Day, when the two boys are allowed to go to the festivities by themselves. They are forced to fight off Blade's gang before Max escapes to the safety of the millpond. Later that summer, Kevin dons a Darth Vader mask and, atop Max's shoulders, the two head to a sewage drain where Kevin has previously spotted a lost purse. They retrieve it and then decide to present it to its owner, who lives in the New Tenements, one of the worst neighborhoods in town. The purse turns out to be owned by Loretta Lee, wife of motorcycle gang leader Iggy Lee--an old friend of Max's father, the imprisoned "Killer" Kane. Loretta and Iggy cruelly reveal some unflattering memories about the two boys' fathers, and Max and Kevin consider themselves lucky to get out of the New Tenements in one piece.