Max the Mighty

Max the Mighty is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. The book was published in 1998. It is the sequel to "Freak the Mighty".
Plot.
Max Kane helps Rachel run away from her overly religious and abusive stepfather. Rachel is nicknamed "Worm" because of her love of reading. Max nicknames her stepfather "The Undertaker" because he drives a hearse and wears black clothing. The Undertaker says that Max of kidnapping Worm. This causes Max and Worm run away with Dippy Hippie on his bus, the Prairie Schooner. Along the way, they meet two con-artists, Frank and Joanie. They have read about Max and Worm and know there is a reward for finding them. Frank tries to turn them in. To get away, Max and Worm have to leave the Prairie Schooner. To take them the rest of the way, they get on a train with Hobo Joe. They get to Chivalry, Montana. They go into a mining tunnel. Max learns that Worm's birth father had died in a mining accident. The Undertaker goes to Chivalry with the police. Max and Worm run away in the tunnels. They meet Dip, and Max's grandfather, Grim. The police find them and Worm runs back into the tunnel. She thinks about killing herself so she can be with her father and away from her stepfather. Max talks her out of it. A beam in the mine falls over and traps the Undertaker under it. This causes Worm to finally talk to the Undertaker about all the abuse he has been doing to her and her mother. This causes the police to know the truth. Before anything else can happen, the mine starts to collapse. Everybody is forced to run for the exit. Max cannot leave the Undertaker behind to die. He lifts up the beam and frees the Undertaker. The Undertaker gets out of the mine in time, but Max does not. Emergency services come to the mine and rescue Max. He has a broken shoulder and leg. Afterwards, Worm's mother finally stands up to her abusive husband. She tells the court what he really happened. This gets the Undertaker convicted of domestic abuse. The book ends with Max and his grandparents asking Worm and her mother to live with them. They say yes.