The Misfits

The Misfits is written by James Howe.

Juvenile Novel

5th Grade & Up

4 out of 5 

The Misfits is about four misfit students who start a 3rd party for their school student council elections to represent all students that have ever been called a name.

I really enjoyed reading this book because the plot was both touching and realistic. I think the plot was good because the author did not have the students just win; I think this was important because it is important for readers to understand that they do not need to come in 1st place to actually win. The plot and characters were both very developed. The characters were really developed and I was able to get to know and connect to everyone of the members of the Gang of Five. I was able to understand who they were and what their values were by their actions. I think it is an easy book to relate to because I am sure that everyone has gone through name calling and can understand how to feels to be judged by something about them. I also liked this book because it was very easy to read and understand even with it jumping from a narrative from the viewpoint of Bobby to a script of what happens at The Forum.

I think that this book would be a great boo to use in the classroom because it confronts a very important topic in school today, bullying. This book would be great to help students understand how it feels to be called names. Also, it would be great for students who may get called names to understand that they should not let it bother them and overcome it. This would be a great book for class discussion and great for students to get to know another. One activity that may be interesting to do is to have every student anonymously write down a name they may have been called in the past and place it in a cup then to go read through the names and have students listen and think about or write about how they would feel being called these names that others have been called.