The Misfits

The Misfits, by James Howe. Oh my goodness! I know that we only had to read about half of this book at a time, but it was so good! I ended up finishing it in about five days. I thought it was really interesting that Howe chose to write the story from the perspective of the "fat kid" of the four misfits, as it seems to be a marginalized perspective when writing about kids who don't fit in. I thought that it was really cleaver how the author inspired the gang of five to come up with the no-names party for their school election. This is an issue that kids still face in school today, and this is a really clever way to get kids to start thinking about what they call other and what they themselves get called. It really made me think when Bobby made his speech, and finally came out about his mother and why he ate those sandwiches during the third grade. I felt a real connection to Bobby's situation as I have lost my father just last year. I myself made six stockpots of my father's home made chicken noodle soup for my wedding as a kind of way to heal, so I have a strong connection to this character. The characters of this story have the potential of being that connection for kids who may be going through similar situations. I think that it is absolutely abhorring that there are parents who think that this book is inappropriate for kids, if anything it should be a required reading in sixth grade, if not for connection sake, but to prepare kids for middle school, show them that there are people out there different than themselves, and that they need to be understanding and caring individuals to their classmates in order to create a positive school experience for everyone. Kids also need to know that it's okay to be brave, as Bobby tells his classmates at the end of the novel.