Will it hurt?" I ask. "Getting your parts replaced?"
Freak doesn't answer for a while and then he says in his stern, smart voice, "Sure it will hurt. But so what? Pain is just a state of mind. You can think your way out of anything, even pain."
I'm pretty worried about the whole deal, and I go, "But why do you want to be the first? Can't someone else be first? Isn't it dangerous?"
Life is dangerous," Freak says.

Auteur: Rodman Philbrick