The misfits

James Howe, 1946-

Book - 2001

Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names.

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Published
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers 2001.
Language
English
Main Author
James Howe, 1946- (-)
Physical Description
274 p.
ISBN
9780689839559
9780689839566
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Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 5-8. "Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit." Howe tells the truth about the pain and anger caused by jeers and name-calling in a fast, funny, tender story that will touch readers as much as all the recent books about school violence. The narrator, Bob ("fatso"), joins with his three loser friends in the seventh grade--Joe ("faggot"), Addie ("beanpole," "know-it-all"), and Skeezie ("wop," "ree-tard")--to challenge the usual popularity-contest class elections and get kids and teachers to change. The meetings of the four friends in the local diner are written as plays, and their talk is right-on and funny. Addie is the political one, refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance in class, but Bob emerges as the leader when he makes the personal issues political and gets the school to vote for a no-names day. The gay character, Joe, is beautifully drawn: he's unapologetic and supported by his parents. Everyone in the group is in love; in fact, Joe and Addie are in love with the same guy. The ending is too upbeat; it's the friendship that's real. The kids may be misfits, but they fit together and they give each other the freedom to be who they are. --Hazel Rochman

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

What do a 12-year-old student who moonlights as a tie salesman, a tall, outspoken girl, a gay middle schooler and a kid branded as a hooligan have in common? Best friends for years, they've all been the target of cruel name-calling and now that they're in seventh grade, they're not about to take it any more. In this hilarious and poignant novel, Howe (Bunnicula; The Watcher) focuses on the quietest of the bunch, overweight Bobby Goodspeed (the tie salesman), showing how he evolves from nerd to hero when he starts speaking his mind. Addie (the outspoken girl) decides that the four of them should run against more popular peers in the upcoming student council election. But her lofty ideals and rabble-rousing speeches make the wrong kind of waves, offending fellow classmates, teachers and the principal. It is not until softer-spoken Bobby says what's in his heart about nicknames and taunts that people begin to listen and take notice, granting their respect for the boy they used to call "Lardo" and "Fluff." The four "misfits" are slightly larger than life wiser than their years, worldlier than the smalltown setting would suggest, and remarkably well-adjusted but there remains much authenticity in the story's message about preadolescent stereotyping and the devastating effects of degrading labels. An upbeat, reassuring novel that encourages preteens and teens to celebrate their individuality. Ages 10-14. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-8-A high spirited cast brings James Howe's energetic, sometimes hilarious book (Atheneum, 2001) about junior high school politics and nasty name calling to life. Young actor Spencer Murphy does an excellent job playing narrator Bobby Goodspeed, an overweight seventh grader who belongs to the Gang of Five, which (ironically) is made up of four not five kids who consider themselves misfits. The other "gang" members are the precocious and extremely tall Addie (played with effective Lisa Simpsonesque moral outrage by Maggie Lane), the Elvis look-alike Skeezie (the funny Andrew Pollack), and the effeminate Joe (a sensitive performance by Ryan Carlesco). The student council elections are coming up, and these students decide to run on the "No-Name Party," which promises to bring an end to all name calling in the school. The scene with the characters listing the various hateful names they have been called (everything from "fat boy" to "fairy" to "greaser" to "loser") is truly chilling. Thanks to Daniel Bostick's inventive direction of the actors, the presentation soars and entertains. There are many clever touches: an echo effect is used when Bobby has interior thoughts, and there are neat sound effects when characters speak on television or over PA systems. A clever music score, which mixes rockabilly with muzak, adds to the story's humor and energy. The entire cast, especially the aforementioned young actors as well as Bill Molesky as Bobby's world weary boss, does a fine job. An interesting interview with James Howe completes this first rate presentation.-Brian E. Wilson, Evanston Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

(Intermediate, Middle School) Bobby is the fat one. Addie is very tall and very smart (Òmajor liabilities if you were born into the world a girlÓ). Skeezie dresses like a hood, and Joe Òacts more like a girl than a boy.Ó Together, these four self-described misfits form the Gang of FiveÑfive Òbecause we figure that thereÕs one more kid out there whoÕs going to need a gang to be a part of.Ó Addie, a seventh-grade rebel looking for a cause, hatches the idea of starting a third political party for the school elections, pushing a minority classmate to run for student council president. When her patronizing plan falls apart (ÒYou got eyes that see no further than the color of my skin,Ó says their African-American candidate before dropping out of the election), the Freedom Party transforms into the No-Name Party, and the plot jarringly changes focus. Having endured more than their share of epithets (among them: blubber, faggot, loser, nerdette), the Gang of Five all run for elected positions on a platform protesting name-calling in school, invoking the heavy-handed slogan, ÒSticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit.Ó Some will cheer BobbyÕs personal triumph in delivering an emotional campaign speech before an audience of classmates, but middle-school readers may acknowledge thereÕs an element of wish-fulfillment in the implausibly positive response it receives. Though weighed down by its circuitous plot and didactic message, the story is leavened by everyday concerns: middle-school crushes (both straight and gay), romantic intrigues, teacher-student conflicts, and the trials of a first after-school job, all related in BobbyÕs fresh and distinctive voice. p.d.s. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The Gang of Five wants, basically, to get through seventh grade in Paintbrush Falls, New York. The four of them (there are only four, actually) have been friends forever: Bobby's fat; Addie's too tall and too smart; Skeezie has personal hygiene issues; and Joe has known he was gay almost since he was born. It's Bobby's sweet, sharp voice that narrates-how Addie's refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance in class leads to their all running for school office, how each of them develops their first crush, and how both play out in utterly recognizable 12-year-old ways. Howe (Color of Absence, p. 941, etc.) lets his kids discover how the names we call each other shape our vision of ourselves, and the Gang's attempt to bring about a no-name-calling day (no Dweeb, Fluff, Twinkie, or Nerdette) rings true and real. Straight narrative alternates with transcripts of the Gang's meetings at the local ice cream parlor down to every last word, thanks to Addie's determined style. Bobby may be preternaturally articulate, but he is also winsome and funny about some very painful issues: the loss of a parent; the weirdness of adults, even nice ones; the pressure of hormones; and the importance of friendship. Readers of every stripe will find themselves here and laugh (or cringe) as they catch on. (Fiction. 10+)

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Chapter 2 Skeezie Tookis is not the only one who gets names slapped on him just on account of how he looks. Names come Addie's way, too, only in her case it is because of her being so tall, in addition to the factor of her intelligence, both of which fall on the plus side of the ledger if you happen to be a boy and are major liabilities if you were born into the world a girl. At least, that is my impression of how it goes in the dreaded middle-school years. I will not speak for high school, having neither firsthand experience nor an older sibling to shed wisdom on the subject. As for Joe, well, he's been called more names than the world's most stinking umpire. He even gives himself names, although they are not bad ones and would appear to arise out of a creative urge that runs deep in him. Joe is the most creative person I know -- too creative for some people, and maybe that is part of the problem. The other part of the problem is that he acts more like a girl than a boy much of the time, and this makes people nervous. Especially other boys. Joe figures he is who he is and what's the big deal, and I figure he is right about that. Me, I've been called, amongst other things, Pork Chop, Roly-Poly, Dough Boy, and Fluff. I hated that last one most of all. It was the name of choice back in third grade when I ate peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff sandwiches every day for lunch. Everybody called me Fluff that year. Or almost everybody. Not my best friends. And not the teachers. They called me Bobby or Robert, and they were all very nice to me that year, as if I had special needs. Which I guess I would have to say I did. But the way I figure it is, Who doesn't have special needs? Anyway, most of the kids called me Fluff, and I kept thinking, This is so stupid, because there's a lot more to me than half of what I put in a sandwich. Though I expect the name had more to do with the obvious results of eating nonstop Marshmallow Fluff than the fact of doing it. But still, I wonder if maybe everybody gets names hung on them for only a little part of who they are. Kids who get called the worst names oftentimes find each other. That's how it was with us. Skeezie Tookis and Addie Carle and Joe Bunch and me. We call ourselves the Gang of Five, but there are only four of us. We do it to keep people on their toes. Make 'em wonder. Or maybe we do it because we figure that there's one more kid out there who's going to need a gang to be a part of. A misfit, like us. Sometimes I am sitting with Addie and Joe and Skeezie at lunch -- at our table way off to the side and down at the end of the cafeteria, out of harm's way -- and I get to thinking in a philosophical manner and what I'm thinking is this: Maybe it's the whole rest of the seventh grade at Paintbrush Falls Middle School who's misfits. Maybe when they grow up and go out into the big, wide world, they will see that Paintbrush Falls was the only place they could ever feel at home, because the rest of the world is made up of people more like me and the rest of the Gang of Five and Daryl Williams, who stutters and you can see in his eyes how much it hurts just to try and say hello, or that girl who moved here last year and you can hardly tell she's breathing she's so afraid of being noticed, but then she keeps drawing these amazing pictures that Mr. Minelli says are "touched by genius." In other words: people who are misfits because they're just who they are instead of "fits," who are like everybody else. Anyway, I do not want you thinking that I or Addie or Joe or Skeezie feel sorry for ourselves. We do not. Other people may call us names or think we're weird or whatever, but that does not mean we believe them. We may be misfits, but we're okay. Leastwise, in our own eyes we are, and that's all that really matters. Addie is the one who got us all together. Of course, Addie and I were actually "together" since before either of us can remember because our moms were best friends when we were born, so we became best friends, too. Then Joe moved in next door to Addie when we were four. As for Skeezie, well, I didn't think he'd have any friends, the way he was. In kindergarten, he got labeled a troublemaker right off the bat and everybody just kind of knew to steer clear of him; at least, you did if you didn't want a chunk of your hair cut off when you weren't looking or a gob of paste shoved down your underpants. It was Addie who decided in the second grade that what Skeezie needed was a friend. She sent him a secret Valentine. It said, "I think you are nice even if you act like a moron." Skeezie did not know what "moron" meant. He thought it was a compliment. So he announced in front of the whole class, "If whoever wrote this Valentine tells me who they are, I will give them a dollar." Before Miss Haskell could shush the class and tell Skeezie he would do no such thing, Addie had her hand in the air and said, "I wrote it." Of course, so did every other kid in the class because we all wanted the dollar. But Addie proved she was telling the truth by providing a sample of her handwriting and Miss Haskell believed her and Skeezie believed her and -- here's the part nobody could believe -- he did not cut off any of her hair or paste any of her clothing to any of her body parts. He gave her the dollar, and they became friends. From that day on, Skeezie stopped making trouble. Just like that. Cold turkey. And even though he still acts a little tough and dresses like a fugitive from West Side Story, he is at heart the kind of person your mother wants you to be friends with. And all on account of Addie. Addie has always been like that. If she believes something, she does not keep it inside her head like private property with a NO TRESPASSING sign up; she puts it out there in the world and says, "Deal with it." She is not afraid of anything. Not even the names people call her. On Monday of the second week of school, she strikes again, this time in Ms. Wyman's homeroom. Ms. Wyman is the seventh-grade math teacher. She is also a believer in the religion of Self-Esteem. Her room is plastered with these signs that say things like, TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE and IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, WHO WILL? She keeps fresh flowers on her desk and she likes to start each day with these deep yoga breaths so we'll all be "centered" and "at our best." She's so sweet sometimes you swear you can smell muffins baking. But here is the bad news about Ms. Wyman: If you cross her, watch out. That smiley face of hers'll fall off like a mask that's popped its elastic, and underneath is a dragon lady. And that Ms. Wyman, I swear, wouldn't blink at removing your liver with her bare hands and eating it with a spoon. So it is particularly nervy of Addie to do what she does, it being in Ms. Wyman's homeroom and only the second week of school and all. "We will now stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance." Some sixth-grade voice I do not recognize is giving the morning announcements over the P.A. Ms. Wyman looks mildly annoyed to have her morning yoga breaths interrupted, but she smiles indulgently at the box on the wall and says, "Boys and girls, please rise." We do. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of..." It is then I notice that not all of us has risen. One of us is sitting with her hands folded on her desk and a new look for a new day resting comfortably on her face. "Addie Carle," Ms. Wyman says after the rest of us finish and sit down. "Yes, Ms. Wyman?" "Would you care to tell the class why you did not rise and say the Pledge of Allegiance with us this morning?" "Yes, Ms. Wyman." Addie takes a deep breath. "I looked the word 'pledge' up in the dictionary and it said -- " "Furniture polish," Kevin Hennessey mutters. A bunch of boys around him laugh, Jimmy Lemon loudest of all. Ms. Wyman furrows her brow. "Continue, Addie," she says. "It said, well, it actually said lots of things because the word 'pledge' has multiple meanings, as many words do, but as best I could make out, the meaning that applied to the Pledge of Allegiance was this." She lifts a piece of paper from her desk and reads, "'Pledge: A promise or agreement by which one binds himself to do or forbear something.'" She clears her throat. "Now, besides the fact that the dictionary is hopelessly sexist and it should have said 'himself or herself...'" Somebody says, "Here goes Know-It-All." Addie presses on. "Well, admittedly, what is pledged is allegiance -- or loyalty -- to one's country. But isn't there the implication of a promise of liberty and justice for all? And do we have liberty and justice for all in this country? I think not." She casts her eye on DuShawn Carter, who conveniently is seated to her right and even more conveniently is African-American. "Addie," Ms. Wyman says. "I think perhaps -- " "Did you happen to read this morning's New York Times?" Addie continues. I make a mental note to tell Addie later about my liver-eating theory in regards to Ms. Wyman and to suggest that it might be best not to interrupt her. "Well, my parents subscribe to The New York Times," Addie says, to the accompaniment of groans, "and it's a good thing they do. Otherwise, I wouldn't know half of what's going on in the world. Have you seen what is happening in the unfair metropolis of New York? You cannot be a black man and walk down the streets of that city without the word 'guilty' stamped on your forehead. The police arrest you -- or worse -- just because of the color of your skin. I do not call that liberty and -- " "Miss Carle -- " "Ms. Wyman, I will not utter empty words, falsehoods, and lies." Addie walks to the front of the room and dramatically presents Ms. Wyman with a piece of paper on which she's neatly penned her dictionary definition of the word "pledge," along with a torn-out page of the newspaper. Returning to her seat, she says, "I rest my case." Sitting, she lets out a gigantic fart and turns bright red. Pretty much everybody cracks up. I am sticking the sharp point of my compass into my thumb to keep from laughing because, after all, Addie is one of my best friends. "Kevin Hennessey!" Ms. Wyman exclaims. I'm sure she figures it is Kevin who put the whoopee cushion on Addie's chair, because statistically speaking -- and statistics are Ms. Wyman's raison d'être (which is French for "reason to be," in case not knowing what something means in another language gets in the way of your following the action) -- you'd have a pretty good bet that Kevin is guilty of just about anything that happens in school. Anything of a subversive or out-and-out nasty nature, that is. Once Skeezie retired as School Bad Boy, Kevin took over the job. But I have the feeling it isn't Kevin this time. No, I have the feeling it is Addie's Living, Breathing Symbol of Social Injustice who has placed the whoopee cushion on her chair. I mean, DuShawn Carter is laughing so hard he is pretty near busting a gut. Copyright © 2001 by James Howe Chapter 3 Every Friday after school since the beginning of sixth grade, Addie, Joe, Skeezie, and I have gathered at the Candy Kitchen, last booth on the right -- the one with the aforementioned torn red leatherette seats -- to discuss important issues and eat ice cream. We call this the Forum. Due to the change in my employment status, we canned holding the Forum on a specific day of the week and decided we'd have it whenever we felt like it. The Friday Forum became the Floating Forum. The minutes of the First Floating Forum of the Seventh-Grade Year are as follows: Addie: Today's topic for discussion is "Liberty and Justice for All." Skeezie: Do you have to write down every single word? Addie: Talk more slowly, please. Skeezie: Geesh. Addie: Well, I guess we all know what happened in Ms. Wyman's homeroom class this morning. Joe: You told us at lunch. Skeezie: It is all you talked about at lunch. Joe: Wait a minute, did you write my name down as Joe? Addie: That is your name, the last I heard. Joe: Not anymore. Now it's Scorpio. Skeezie: Scorpio?! Joe: You should talk, with a name like Skeezie. Bobby: What happened to Jodan? Joe: Oh, that putting-my-first-and-middle-names-together thing? That is sooo last week. I like Scorpio. It has, oh, I don't know, energy. Skeezie: How about Plunger? Joe: Plunger? Skeezie: Yeah, like in toilet plunger. You get one of those things working, man, talk about energy. Joe: Wait a minute, I think I hear someone laughing. Oops, my mistake, that was someone gagging in the next booth. Skeezie: Ha. Addie: Excuse me, could we get back to the topic? Joe: Could you write my name as Scorpio? Addie: Okay, fine. Scorpio: Thank you. Addie: You're welcome. Now, what I want to know is if you guys think there is liberty and justice for all in this country. Scorpio: No way. Bobby: Well, I think what the Pledge of Allegiance is about is idealism. You know, like, what we aim for. Addie: But that's not what is says. It says promise. Bobby: Where? It doesn't say that word. Addie: Well, pledge, promise, same thing. The point is -- Scorpio: The point is there's no way there is freedom and justice for everybody in this country. It's, well, I don't mean it's like a total, you know, a totalism kind of thing, whatever it's called. Addie: Totalitarianism. Scorpio: Yeah, that. I mean, it's not like we've got some dictator guy telling everybody they have to, I don't know, like, wear polyester all the time or something grotesque like that. Skeezie: Oh, yeah, there's a fate worse than death. Synthetics. Addie: I think we're getting a little off the -- Bobby: It's cool that you're not saying the Pledge, Addie, I mean it's cool that you're standing up for your principles and all, but -- Addie: Thank you. Bobby: But what difference does it make? I mean, just because you sit there and don't say the words with everybody else, that's not going to help some poor guy hundreds of miles downstate in New York City who gets beaten up just because he's black or poor or something. Addie: I contend that it does make a difference. Skeezie: Oo, she contends. Where's our food, if you don't mind my asking? Addie: Yes, I contend that every act of conscience makes a difference. Skeezie: But you're talking about New York City. We don't have the same kinds of problems here. Scorpio: Hello. Are you kidding? Of course we do. Addie: Just on a smaller scale. It's important to bring attention -- Bobby: My dad says it's better just to get along, not make waves. He says bringing attention can be a dangerous thing. Addie: Of course it can! Just look at Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King or...or... Scorpio: Madonna. Or RuPaul. Addie: I don't think they're in quite the same league, Joe. I mean, Scorpio. Scorpio: They bring attention! They're like, "In your face, world! Look at me! This is who I am and if you don't like it, stuff it! I'm as good as anybody else!" Skeezie: Tell it! Bobby: Whatever. The thing is, Ms. Wyman is not going to let you not say the Pledge, Addie, so what is the point? Addie: Excuse me? I do not believe Ms. Wyman has the right to tell me what I can and cannot say. Have you never heard of the First Amendment? Skeezie: Has that bozo who took our order never heard of first come, first served? Did you see that? He just gave them their food and they came in here after we did! Bobby: Maybe they're friends of his. Skeezie: There you are, Addie, a perfect example of how there's no liberty and justice for all. In a just world, I'd be slurping my Dr Pepper by now and instead I'm sitting here parched and deprived because Mr. HellomynameisAdam is giving preferential treatment to his friends. Justice, I say! Justice! Addie: Skeezie, stop pounding on the table. You're making a scene. Skeezie: Justice! Justice! Bobby: I thought you wanted to bring attention, Addie. Addie: There's bringing attention and then there's bringing attention. I mean, a little kid throwing a tantrum in public is bringing attention and that's closer to what Skeezie's doing right now than my standing up for -- Scorpio: I was just thinking. RuPaul. I really like the sound of that. I think I'm going to be Jodan again. Except I'll make the "D" capital, so you have to, like, emphasize the second syllable, you know? Jo- Dan. Addie: What are you talking about? Scorpio: No, no, don't write Scorpio, write... Addie: Oh, I get it. Okay. JoDan: Yeah, like that. That's cool. Skeezie: I thought that was so last week. JoDan: With a small "d." That was so last week. Skeezie: Right, whatever. Addie: So about liberty and justice for -- Skeezie: All right! Here's our food. See, a little protest'll work every time. You were right, Addie! It pays to act on your conscience. Hey, I learned something today. These Forums are way cool. Hey, hey, wait a minute. HellomynameisAdam: What's wrong? Skeezie: This Dr Pepper is flat, my man. You gotta get me another. HellomynameisAdam: Look... Skeezie: Justice! Justice! HellomynameisAdam: All right, all right. Just cool your jets, will you? Skeezie: Peace, brother. We do not record the rest of the proceedings, since we never do get back on the topic. If I recall correctly, we spend the rest of our time at the Candy Kitchen that Monday talking about who are the meanest teachers in seventh grade and who are the best. Ms. Wyman scores points in both categories. Copyright © 2001 by James Howe Excerpted from The Misfits by James Howe All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.