The Misfits by James Howe

I grew up reading a lot and one of my favorite authors was James Howe. I'm sure I read Bunnicula and the other dog/cat/bunny vampire books several times each. The writing was very creative and made me laugh--hallmarks of a good book in my opinion.

I was surprised to hear years later that Howe actually wrote several young adult novels that didn't deal with animals as main characters. I recognized the same quick wit and humor in The Misfits as his previous works. One of the things I especially like about this book is how normal it seems--there aren't crazy events occurring every other second for sensationalist purposes. There are lots of "real" moments in each chapter that transport me back to junior high and high school years (and also bored moments working at a department store).

The name of the store Bobby works at, Awkworth and Ames, constantly comes out Akward and Aimless in my head as I am reading. The store is boring and Bobby is counting the hours until his shift is over. As a department store worker, I felt the same way at times and co-workers often had dual personalities according to their popularity with associates and attitudes towards the place. If someone like Skeezie, decked out in a leather coat, dirty, and greasy-headed came into that store, I can see managers all over the place making sure he didn't slip something into his coat pockets. After all, first impressions are everything, right?

The characters in this story are compelling because each of them is someone I know or am. We all feel like we are insecure adolescents at times and these kids are dealing with some tough issues: homosexuality, being overweight, being a smart girl, losing a parent, and not having a lot of money. All in all, these kids have all the reasons in the world to be bitter and destructive for the way they have been treated--their list of names they had been called was extensive! I tried to think of names I had been called as a youngster, but couldn't really think of anything specific. I guess we all get called some of the "all-purpose" ones growing up, much like the characters.

I thought it was especially interesting how Addie was so convinced that DuShawn, an African American student, has been oppressed--"Being a minority, you have certainly seen your share of injustice." The thing she is latching onto is the small town sentiments sometimes shared about non-whites. DuShawn quickly makes a great point that although his differences are on the outside for everyone to see, he is not the only minority. The platform of the Liberty Party was to speak on the behalf of the minority students of Paintbrush Falls Middle School and JoDan correctly points out that "there are all kinds of minorities."

My heart sank when Joe said, "What I want more than anything is to hold hands with someone I like." What an honest, thoughtful response for such a young man to make. I think we are all searching for connections with others, romantic or not. Being gay in a dominantly heterosexual culture as we are, would make it really hard for Joe to feel comfortable telling others about his feelings. When the word gay sometimes is used to mean stupid, weird, and dumb, who would want to describe themselves as gay?

Once the Gang of Five understands what they really want to do to help their school, they feel a sense of pride and empowerment. Having rules just to have rules doesn't help our students who don't feel a part of the "regular" population. The creativity of these kids is amazing and made me feel excited for them. It was hard for me to stop at Chapter 14 because they were just starting to figure things out.

Obviously the word gay, faggot, and homo tend to make people nervous. To me, they are just words and by making them "bad words," we give them power. By allowing others to use the word gay in a negative way, we are condoning and agreeing in a way, to the negative connotation. I know several homosexual people and would not be happy if they weren't a part of my life. Having a different sexual orientation does not make them a pervert or possible child-molester, etc. I think we should let people be who they are and stop trying to be "perfect" (what does that look like anyway?).

This is a very honest book that I think many students struggling with similar issues would really enjoy. I think it would depend on the school--principals can be great allies when starting a controversial topic in the classroom. I would hope this book would be allowed because of the great message it conveys. With a quick mini-lesson about being accepting of differing views, etc. this would be a great book for read alouds or literacy groups.