I enjoyed reading this novel by James Howe aimed towards middle school students. The book tells of the "Gang of Five" a.k.a. Four, with Bobby, Skeezie, Addie, and Joe. The students are all "misfits" at school during those terrible, awkward, junior high days for different reasons: Bobby because he's chubby, Skeezie because he's a bit unkept, Addie because she's ridiculously tall and ridiculously smart, and Joe because he's gay. All of the teenyboppers meet when they're little children and are good buddies. They meet for sodas and snacks once a week and write out all their conversations about what they're doing at school. From refusing to say the Pledge of Allegience to running for president/vice president, one of the students' main tasks is about popularity vs. principle. Within their story, the students send out a good message and accomplish a great feat in the junior high/middle school setting.
I would use this book in my classroom (if I was an upper-elementary/middle school/junior high teacher). This book sends a good message about bullying and people who are "different." I think this is important for teachers, because we are going to have students in all shapes, sizes, beliefs, and values and it's important for all students to feel accepted and welcomed. Bullying is also such an issue-and this book does a good job addressing it. Though I wasn't really impressed by the book, I believe it should be read aloud because it does cover some topics that students will likely have questions about. The word "faggot" is also used. Some students with these characteristics might feel bad because they might feel that being chubby, for example, is being stereotyped. This is why I think the book should be read-aloud. For a mini-lesson, I think it would be great to teach about bullying: what it is, why it happens, and asking students why it's important to prevent it and what they can do to help. I think it would then be great to make our own class chart (sort of like making our own class rules) about being anti-bullying. For response activities, I think I would have students write a short response paper telling me how they handled the book, since it can be touchy to some students. I think this would be a good way to ask students for suggestions on what to do with this book. Another activity I got from what we did in children's literature class: have students bring an object that they think represents the book. I just thought this was so interesting to see what everyone came up with and their reasoning. I think this book in particular is a good opportunity for me to learn from the students.
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