The Misfits

Rating:
Summary: Great Book For Teens
Review: Author James Howe who is author of more than 70 books for young readers has written a fast, funny, tender story called the "The Misfits".

The book "The Misfits" mainly focuses on four friends, all of whom who are different in one way or an other, however they are comfortable with who they are. The four characters include Bobby Goodspeed(narrator in story) who is disliked seeming he is overweight due to his moms death, Joe Bunch who is disliked seeming he is too creative, girly and gay, Skeezie(don't know real name) who is disliked for dressing like a hooligan and Addie who is disliked due to being very tall and being a know it all. A school election is then coming up which gives them a chance to show how funny, clever and complex they really are, however, their aim in the story isn'y neccesarily to win the election, their aim is to stop name calling seeming they have been called atleast 70 names(adding up all the names by each misfit).

This book is great its very realistic, and its very easy to relate to the characters in the book and i like it how eash misfit has their own problem and i also like it how while they are misfits, they are also very different from each other. The Writer James Howe also describes the characters in the book very well, i also like it how in the book he gets the characters to have conversations, and the way he wrote each characters sentences in the book during conversations is great, like the sentences Joe said were rather girly and went well with who he is(a girly person) and they way he wrote Tonni's(black girl, not really a main character) sentences were great and she sounded black aswell. I also really liked the main theme/message in the book which was "sticks and stones may break our bones but words will break our spirit". All in all, James Howe is a talented writer he has the ability to make you stuck and focused on reading this book and i recomend this book to teens who are either called names, or teens who call others names. Hope this helped.

Rating:
Summary: The Misfits
Review: Fatso, Dough Boy, Spaz, Roly-Poly...Fairy, Queer, Mutant, Tinkerbell...Greaser, Dummy, Freak, Scuz...Beanpole,
Big Mouth, Godzilla, Einstein...

As four twelve-year-olds go through Middle School, you remember how much you just wanted to get through the seventh grade. Bobby Goodspeed, Joe Bunch, Skeezie Tookis, and Addie Carle were the same way, but it was harder than it looked. Going through the hallways of Paintbrush Falls Middle School getting called names was just a regular day for them. They each thought that they didn't belong; they were the outcasts, the weirdoes, and the ones who wanted to flee from their godforsaken hometown and forget about their pasts. So each one found each other, forming the Gang of Five, even though there were only four of them to keep people on their toes. The Misfits was a very intriguing book that I would suggest to anyone who would attempt to read it. You are drawn in and enthralled by the plot of four "misfits" trying to fit into their middle school and create a new political group, the No-Name Party. The new group would help the students in middle school get along better and relieve pressure on the ones who get called the worst names. They have each gone through a troubling childhood, getting called names from Nerdette to Twinkletoes and from Blubber to Hooligan. From the beginning of their story to the end, you get attached to Bobby, a "fluffy" boy who thinks he is fat that works selling ties, Joe, the one who is a little too feminine and who only paints his pinky, Skeezie, a boy that never washes himself and chews with his mouth open, and Addie, the tall smart one that gets on almost everyone's nerves. No matter what they look like or how they act, you listen to their realistic problems, like boyfriends and girlfriends, not getting the rights each and every seventh grader deserves, and their peers, flinching at every nickname they are called. James Howe keeps you on your toes and on the edge of your seat with every conflict with Ms Wyman, and her tearing your liver out, and each vote that would make the No-Name Party the winning one, no matter what the definition of "winning" you have. I would recommend this book to anyone who would learn that making friends is more fun than name-calling. I really enjoyed this book, and I think that it would benefit everyone who read it, whether a bully, popular student, or a "misfit." I give this book five stars for it's colorful, yet understandable plot that brought a smile to my face and a twinge in my heart. With every new character and personality, you understand how each Misfit was torn down inside with a name that would stick to them for the rest of their lives, because as their slogan says, "sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit."

Pork Chop, Lardo, Fluff, Geek...Girl, Wimp, Josephine, Nerd...Slimeball, Grease ball, Dork...Show-off, Know-it-all, Nerdette

Rating:
Summary: Are you feeling left out?
Review: The book The Misfits by James Howe was a great novel. It is about four seventh graders that are "misfits" or people who do not fit in. They have been called names their whole life and have finally stepped up and said something about it. Addie, the outspoken one thinks they should run for student counsel in their school against the most popular people to see if people will recognize them and listen to what they have to say. Bobby (fatso), Joe (fairy), Addie (Brains) and Skeezie (freak) stick together and stay in the election.
Their motto is: Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit. This group of four will do anything to stop name-calling at their school. They have been through enough name-calling they finally are making an effort to stop it. This book is great. The author's intention was to make you feel the way some people do. It proved that anyone can accomplish anything. If you feel like you are a "misfit" this would be a great book for you to read. It will give you courage to speak up for how you feel, just as they did in the book. Even if you have not been called names this book would be good because it leads you to how some people live their life and how hard it must be to have people making fun of you all the time.

Rating:
Summary: The Misfits
Review: The Misfits Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003, 274 pp., $ 5.99
James Howe ISBN 0-689-83956-1

"These are our names: Bobby. Addie. Joe. Skeezie. These are our names. But they are only names. They don't tell you who we are."

This is a book is about the gang of five, but the gang of five has only four people in it. This is because they like to keep people on their toes. The main character is a middle school age tie salesman named Bobby.

The student council election is rolling around so the gang of five decides to run. First they run as the Freedom Party, because that does not succeed they run again as the no name party. Their belief is that no one should be called names. Here is their poster:
Vote for the NO-NAME PARTY-
End name-calling once and for all!
President...Addie Carle
Vice President...Joe Bunch
Treasurer...Bobby Goodspeed
Secretary...Skeezie Tookis

Sticks and Stones May Break Our Bones, But Names Will Break Our Spirit

I would recommend this book to age 9 to adult. I think that this was a great book. The writing was realistic so I could really get into the writing.

-Sequoyah M. King

Rating:
Summary: The Misfits unabridged audio book
Review: Want your middle-schoolers to listen with rapt attention? This audio version of THE MISFITS by Full Cast Audio is fabulous. The characters, read by talented young actors, leap to audio life from page one until the very end. There is even an interview with the author. My students are completely absorbed!