The Misfits

OK but to childish for my liking.

I love stories dealing with people who don’t fit into a perfect mold. Add a group of 7th graders to the mix and you have the perfect middle school drama. James Howe may have aged up the voices of the main characters a bit, but it works. Typical school drama with socially aware kids kept me turning the pages. The story felt fun and light until real heart started showing up. The feels went off the chart during the big speech. The moments Bobby and his dad share on the pages really got to me. This is a great book if you don’t have kids, but want to borrow 4 of them for a few hours. 4.25 for a stack of pancakes.

I ordered these new and they came used and with pages 20-40 replaced with pages from a different story! I’m very upset. It’s hard enough to be a teacher and have to buy my own books for students, but for them to come used and misprinted is infuriating!!!!!

This book is probably not for everyone. I am a firm believer in letting my children experience and make up thier own minds and not about to ban a book however some of the views are not with Christianity and some of the upppity people in that class would probably protest about this being on a library shelf.

As a middle school English teacher, I am always on the hunt for books with great stories that can also provide fantastic conversation starters in the classroom. I had heard of this book and decided to give it a try. I was floored and found myself unable to put it down. Not only is this book laugh out loud funny, with several unpredictably poignant parts that had me near tears, but it explores issues to which middle school students of all backgrounds can relate. I teach in a school where, thankfully, there is not a great deal of "visible" bullying. Even so, there is no doubt that even in the most "refined" of communities, people are alienated, left out, and called names. "The Misfits" hits this nail right on the head -- the fact that people often do not recognize name-calling and alienation as bullying and the fact that it is not long before those who are being called names begin to internalize those words and accept them as defining who they are. Read this book. Read it with your twelve year old, read it for yourself. Remember that your words can make or break a person's day and that the scars of hurtful language are always the last to fade.