The Misfits (Misfits)

by James Howe

"Sticks and stones may break our bones but words will break our spirit." Skeezie, Addie, Joe and Bobby have always been friends. They do everything together and know that, though life may not always be fair, at least they have each other to see them through the seventh grade. But that turns out to be more of a challenge than any of them had anticipated. Starting with Addie's refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance and her insistence on creating a new political party to run for student council, the friends are in for a rocky school year. Along the way they'll learn about politics and popularity, love and loss, and gradually come to be seen, not as the one-word jokes their classmates have tried to reduce them to, but as the full, complicated beings they are just beginning to discover they really are.

• ISBN10: 0689839561
• ISBN13: 9780689839566
• Publish Date: 1 May 2003 (first published 1 October 2001)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Edition: Reprint ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

Read for free on Riveted Lit.com Sept 25th 2019. 

That was really endearing. Perfect MG level tone, style, and content. I love how simple and earnest it feels. It is from a very white perspective, which is acknowledged and part of the story as taking the blinders off and confronting ‘colorblind’ black and white thinking. 

I wouldn’t agree the Gang of Five is more oppressed than the cool black kids, and think they could use an #ownvoices book to explore what that’s like, but it does work as a starting point for white liberals to be better.

I grew up in a similar type of town & not saying the Pledge would’ve been such a big deal. I was able to get away with not saying it after moving to Phoenix in 8th grade, but I still had to stand silently. I don’t know if it’s still an ongoing struggle. I would hope not, but I’m no longer on the front lines of this war. But on the other hand, I have a hard time imagining white people letting brown or non-Christians get away with not saying the pledge. *sigh* 

Love the clue in on the future at the end for the Gang of Five. Interested in checking out the rest of the author’s books now. 

Quotes:

In other words: people who are misfit because they’re just who they are instead of ”fits”, who are like everybody else. 

Because when you get down to it, thinking of somebody as 100% human seriously gets in the way of hating them.

The way I look at it, love does not necessarily make for a happy ending any more than winning does. What makes for a happy ending is what Addie said all along: freedom. The freedom to be who you are without anybody calling you names.

I’m toasting both. To the Gang of Five: May we all sprout wings and fly.