The Misfits by James Howe

I absolutely adore this book. It really draws to your heart and reminds me of the tough times everyone goes through in high school. Every character is trying to fit in no matter if they are popular or not. One part that really stuck out to me is when Bobby and his dad are talking about Bobby’s Grandfather and sharing some of the things he used to say to Bobby’s dad that was forever instilled in him as a parent. The phrase was “You can’t embarrass me. Not ever. It’s just not part of the deal.” I found that to be a very powerful and heartfelt statement. This creates such a deepening feeling for me. Being a parent myself, I definitely understand how I could never feel embarrassed of my child. It think it is an important line for children to pay attention to while reading this book and try to relate it to their own lives in a positive way.

The book was actually, quite surprisingly, a quick read. There was a lot of the dialogue with Addie writing down word for word what people were saying during the forum meetings. Of course, maybe it flew by because, just like The Giver, I couldn’t put it down. It really made me analyze my own experiences from school and realize we don’t have to except what is not fair. We have a voice and it is extremely empowering to hear this story and learn about their experiences. Many kids in school struggle to deal with understanding their personal identities and insecurities with themselves. In my opinion, for some, they think that the only way to feel accepted, superior, or better about themselves, is to put others down and call them names. This really shed some light on real-life situations that happen in school and did an excellent job tackling these issues.

There are two characters in the book (Joe and Collin) that are gay which may spark some controversy for some. I love how everyone embraces and treats it like another norm which is how I think it should be treated in society today. Not everyone is going to have a cookie cutter life, in fact, most people don’t. However, too many people are not being accepting enough of other people’s differences. I appreciate and really respect that they cover it a lot in this book with many discussions about race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. I think this is a wonderful book for children to read at their leisure. Furthermore, I would strongly consider reading along with dissecting this book in my upper-elementary classroom.