The Misfits by James Howe Page A

got:
BOBBY
TOE
SKEEZIE
ADDIE
Fat Boy
Faggot
Wop
Beanpole
Fatso
Fag
Greaser
Skyscraper
Fatty
Gay
Greaseball
Big Mouth
Blubber
Fairy
Slimeball
Show-off
Pork Chop
Queer
Guinea
Know-it-All
Dough Boy
Girl
Dummy
Brains
Dweeb
Sissy
Geek
Einstein
Nerd
Wimp
Schizo
Dweeb
Spaz
Wuss
Hooligan
Nerdette
Lardo
Pervert
J. D.
Godzilla
Lardass
Freak
Freak
Loser
Lardbar
Mutant
Ree-tard
 
Fluff
Homo
Dweeb
 
Roly-Poly
Dweeb
Scuz
 
Dork
Dork
Dork
 
Geek
Nerd
Loser
 
Loser
Geek
 
 
 
Tinkerbell
 
 
 
Twinkletoes
 
 
 
Tinkywinky
 
 
 
Joanna
 
 
 
Josephine
 
 
 
JoJo
 
 
 
Jodi
 
 
 
Joannie
 
 
 
Loser
 
 
    Skeezie whistles. “Impressive, man. Are we awesome or what?”
    We high-five it around the table, acting like this is a big joke, but we all know it isn’t. Then another idea comes to me. I grab a clean napkin and write, Dweeb. Then I draw a big circle around it and a slash through it, so it ends up looking like this:

    â€œHere’s what we gotta do,” I go on. “We take all these words and write each one on its own sheet of paper. Then we put a circle around it and a line through it and then we put them up all over school.”
    â€œAnd what do we say about the Freedom—I mean, the No-Name Party?” Addie asks.
    I can’t believe I have an answer for this. It’s all coming to me, without my even having to think about it. “We don’t say anything,” I go. “Not at first. That’s the beauty of it, see? Ms. Wyman won’t even know there’s another party in the running. Nobody willknow. We’ll keep the suspense going for a couple of days and then we’ll hit the walls with posters for the No-Name Party. How’re they going to stop us then?”
    Addie is practically jumping up and down, she’s so excited. She looks dangerously close to hugging me. “It’s brilliant, Bobby,” she says.
    â€œThere’s a name for this,” Joe gives. “Teaser advertising, I think it is. I
love
it! It’s so... subverted.”
    â€œSubversive,” says Addie.
    â€œShow-off!” goes Joe.
    â€œTwinkletoes!” Addie goes right back at him.
    They both laugh, and Skeezie says to me, “I think
you
should run for president, man.”
    â€œYeah, Bobby,” Addie joins in, “this is
your
idea.”
    â€œNo way,” I tell them. “I’m not getting up in front of the whole school and giving a speech. I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, okay?”
    They can see I mean it, so they let it go. Then the Skeeze asks, “But how are we gonna convince DuShawn to go along with this?”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Addie asks. “He’s probably got a longer list of names than any of us.”
    We all nod, because what do we know, and Addie says she’ll talk to him right after lunch.
    Meanwhile, I’m having the biggest brainstorm yet. “Wait a minute, you guys, we have to have a slogan, right? What do you think of this: Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit.”
    I’m looking at them now, waiting for them to laugh, I don’t know why, and they’re looking at me like that’s what they expected, too, that I’d come up with something funny. But what I’ve come up with is something other than funny. Something even better than funny. What I’ve come up with is the truth.

15
    MONDAY NIGHT we’re back at Joe’s house, printing up names on his computer and drawing red circles around them and red slashes through them. Every time we put a slash through one of those names, it’s like we’re casting a vote for our own party.
    It’s just the Gang of Five this time. Kelsey’s mom doesn’t like her being out on school nights, and DuShawn, well, DuShawn got kind of weird when Addie and I talked to him about the new party idea. Not that