Misfits by James Howe
Four best friends, Bobby Goodspeed (who tells the story), Joe Bunch, Addie Carle, and Skeezie Tookis who are seventh graders at Paintbrush Falls Middle School in upstate New York. The four are the usual outcasts found in most schools, and Addie has decided to take a stand against what she sees as the hypocrisy in her school. At first she wants to bring forth issues of minorities discrimination and hypocrisy in the democratic system. But it is really much more simple than that.

Through her determination to put forward her beliefs, she forces her friends to step back and take a look at themselves and each other. All who change and come to realize their own potential. Bobby, who works as a tie salesman at a local department store, learns that adults have problems too and that everyone has their own names for themselves. That even his dad needs encouragement and support. Bobby challenges everyone to list all the names (or labels) they have ever been called and to reflect how it has made them feel. They decide to become the No-Name party and ask everyone at the school to stop calling each other names for at least one day.

I love James Howe's books, but have only read his mysteries for kids. This is my first YA novel that he has written. He has done a good job at capturing the personalities of kids who could be from anywhere and anyone. I like that he doesn't use lots of slang and dialog that will become dated in a few years. It made me think about names I've called people and have been called. We're all guilty of that.