The Misfits by James Howe

(image via goodreads.com)

Citation

Howe, James. The Misfits. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Print.

Awards

•          ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Annotation

Four outcast friends run for student council as the No Name Party as a protest against bullying in school.

Booktalk

Loser. Fatty. Dweeb. Geek. Fag. What names have you been called?

Middle school is tough, especially when you aren’t popular. Bobby Goodspeed lives in a trailer with his dad, and even though he is only 12, works as a tie salesman at the local department store to make ends meet. Addie, Joe, and Skeezie have been his best friends as long as he can remember. Even though there are only four of them, they call themselves the Gang of Five – it sounds cooler. They are used to being outcasts, but when student council elections come around, Addie decides that it’s time for a change. In order to start a third party, they have to prove that they are representing a group of students that isn’t covered by Democrats or Republicans. Bobby thinks of the names he gets called every day for being fat – Lardo, Fatass, Dough Boy. The others quickly join in. Joe’s been called Faggot, Sissy,Twinkle Toes, Fairy; Skeezie gets Retard and Slimeball; Addie is Beanpole, Know-it-all, Big Mouth. Combined with the usual Loser, Geek, Dweeb, and Nerd, they fill a page in no time. This is their angle. They will be the No Name Party. Will the rest of the school stand behind their push to eliminate name calling and bullying?

“Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit.” (142)

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

(image via goodreads.com)

Citation

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1984. Print.

Awards

•          1985, Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award

Annotation

A young Latina girl talks about her family and Chicago neighborhood in a series of short vignettes.

Booktalk

“We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can’t remember. But what I remember most is moving a lot. Each time it seemed there’d be one more of us. By the time we got to Mango Street we were six – Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny and me.” (3)

Esperanza is just becoming a woman. She spends her days with her younger sister Nenny and her girlfriends from the street. She shares stories about the people in her Chicago neighborhood: the old man who owns the junk shop; Elinita, the witch woman; Rosa Vargas and all her children. The chapters are little stories on their own, but they add up to create a picture of the people and neighborhood she loves and calls home. She talks about getting hips, and her plans to get to eat lunch at school, instead of at home, and lying about her age to get her first job. Her world is full and lush, and even though she is telling her stories, you can see parts of your own life in them too.

(video by jemurillo93 at youtube.com)