Four friends, Bobby, Addie, Skeezie, and Joe are outcasts at their middle school. Bobby is overweight and poor, Addie is very tall, smart, and out-spoken, Skeezie is hygiene-challenged, and Joe is gay. They call themselves the "Gang of Five" even though there are only four of them because, they reason, there is probably another misfit kid out there who will need to join their gang and they don't want to have to change the name. Together, they decide to run for student council on the "No-name" ticket promising to outlaw name-calling at the school.
The Misfits is the story of how four friends choose to deal with all the problems being a misfit incurs. James Howe, author of the Bunnicula series for children, makes a smooth transition to young adult literature with this true-to-life tale of life at the bottom of the middle school food chain. Anyone who was or is a misfit will applaud The Gang of Five's efforts to ban name-calling. Teens and tweens ten to fourteen will laugh and cry over the Gang's list of names that need to be permanently retired. Included are: "Fat Boy, Blubber, Lardass, Faggot, Mutant, Homo, Tinkerbell, Greaser, Ree-tard, Scuz, Beanpole, Einstein, Nerdetaa" and the one on everybody's list, "Loser." (139)
Review excerpt from Publishers Weekly: "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."
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Howe, James. The Misfits. New York: Atheneum,2001.
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