The Misfits is a book where four kids in seventh grade are best friends who have one thing that they definitely have in common, their misfits. That's what the school thinks of them anyways. The name-calling and bullying are targeted to them and many others. One day and becomes too much and the Gang of Five (that's their group name, there's only four people in the group) set up a plan to end it. The Misfits does an absolute job at bring up the topics of bullying in school and other sensitive topics, the book handles the plot well and connects with people who also struggle with bullying, that's why this review is a five stars. For me, I can say that I can connect to the book when the main cast is tired of the bullying(I hope that's for a lot of people). I can recommend this book to grades 5 and higher who like realistic fiction.
The Misfits
By James Howe
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grades 10 - 9 | W | 5.2 | 47443 |
Skeezie, Addie, Joe, and Bobby -- they've been friends forever. They laugh together, have lunch together, and get together once a week at the Candy Kitchen to eat ice cream and talk about important issues. Life isn't always fair, but at least they have each other -- and all they really want to do is survive the seventh grade.
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 Gang of Five is in for the ride of their lives. Along the way they will learn about politics and popularity, love and loss, and what it means to be a misfit. After years of getting by, they are given the chance to stand up and be seen -- not as the one-word jokes their classmates have tried to reduce them to, but as the full, complicated human beings they are just beginning to discover they truly are.
Book Reviews (8)
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I love that the author came up with a plot so meaningful that it starts up conversation among our community. We all know that something has to be done about the bullying in this world, but, and I’m sure Addies character can contest to this, it really starts with us.
This book really showed a true life message. It shows how the gang of five decide to stand up for what the thing is wrong and for each other. They really wanted their idea of No name calling to be heard so the create a party of the election. Read to find out what might happen in this great book The Misfits.
I have to read this for summer reading. Seems okay
I think the book is good so far because it kind of talks about life lessons and what kids that get bullied go through or if they are LGBTQ and stuff like that.
So there's this group of outcast friend's called The Gang of Five (even thought there's only 4 of them). There names are Bobby, Addie, Skeezie, and Joe. They're just starting 7th grade, and class presidential elections are coming up. Addie decides that she wants another party to run for president besides just the Republicans and the Democrats. So the rest of them just kind of go along with it. What I thought of it: Let me start with the thing that bothered me most about this book. The racism. Let me start with the names. There are 3 black people in the 7th grade. There names are DuShawn, Royal, and Tondayala (who's called Toni for oblivious reasons). Seriously. Those are their actual names. And of course they don't talk properly. You can always tell when the black people are talking. "Fool" is their favorite word. And of course Toni has an attitude. I was pretty offended by the way black people were represent. That was probably the main problem I had with the book. That and the way Joe was portrayed. He was just one big stereotype. He actually used the word "fabulous" several times. But Joe didn't offend me the way the black people did. That's probably because I am black. Despite Joe being so stereotypical, he was my favorite character. I enjoyed his dialog and his character overall. Skeezie was next. I enjoyed his dialog and character as well though I didn't like how he was portrayed as dirty. I liked Bobby too. He was a pretty good narrator, and I appreciated the fact that he was more of a minion than I protagonist. It was something different. I didn't like Addie. She was annoying, bossy, and obnoxious. She was always screaming about how everything was sexist, even though it wasn't sexist at all. Toni was actually pretty right about her, but it was still terrible the way Toni was portrayed as well as all the other black people. The plot was fine. The writing was good but hard to know what was being said sometimes. Even though I've said all this negative stuff, I actually really like the book, though I don't know why. It honestly probably doesn't deserve 4 stars but I couldn't give it 3. Overall, it was a pretty great book.
Sticks and Stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit. That's the message. So, this book is a bit inappropriate for kids 5th grade and under. Anyways, it's about these 4 kids in 7th grade. They call themselves the gang of five. They are bullied a lot, and decide to start an No-Name Campaign for the School Election thing. T
This book can really relate to a lot of people. Everyone gets bullied or mistreated once in a while, or maybe our whole lives. In this book you can see how others deal with it.