Max hates to see people cruelly treated, but he also doubts himself, and his conscience does battle with his fears. Several times, he confronts the conflict between fear and resolve, and each time his better nature wins out. In the process, Max learns he’s a better person than he, or anyone else, knew.

Max’s best friend, Kevin, taught him to love books, especially stories about King Arthur’s knights, who went on grand quests, defeated evil, and protected the innocent. In one King Arthur novel, The Sword in the Stone, “It’s about this kid who everyone thinks is a real loser until one day he accidentally pulls this sword out of a stone” (97-98). Max is several sizes larger than his classmates, worries that he’s a dunce, and is known as the son of a murderer. It’s no surprise that he struggles with his self-image. The idea of King Arthur, a nobody who becomes a hero, gives Max hope that he too might rise above his apparent limitations.

Max witnessed firsthand the ultimate cruelty when his father killed his mother in front of him. He can’t get her back, but he can help

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