The Misfits

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2001

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Chapters 21-24

Chapters 25-27

Chapters 28-30

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Quiz

Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 13 Summary

Addie and Bobby arrive early to school so they can hang up posters. As they do so, the school secretary informs Addie and Bobby that the principal, Mr. Kiley, wants to speak with them. In his office, Mr. Kiley tells Addie that they can’t run for student council with their independent party. Addie explains that they are running to represent minority students. Mr. Kiley explains that the other two political parties are dedicated to representing all students, which includes minority students. He also points out that DuShawn is the only minority on their ticket. Mr. Kiley suggests Addie get involved with one of the two pre-existing political parties. Finally, Mr. Kiley wonders if Addie’s refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance as well as her independent third party are just ploys to get attention.

Addie is offended and frustrated as she and Bobby leave Mr. Kiley’s office, but Addie is determined not to give up, saying they’ll just have to find another purpose for their party. Just then, Kevin Hennessey sticks his head out of a nearby classroom and says, “‘Yo, Blubber! […] You better get a ladder if you’re gonna kiss Godzilla!’” (131), making fun of both Bobby’s weight and Addie’s height. Though Bobby claims the name-calling doesn’t affect him, Kevin’s words still catch him off guard.

Later, at lunch, Bobby sees Kevin make fun of another student named Daryl who has a stutter. This gives Bobby an idea for their political party’s new purpose. Bobby decides, “I am about to stop being a get-along kind of guy and turn into somebody who makes a difference” (135).

Chapter 14 Summary

Bobby announces his idea for their political party: “‘The No-Name Party’” (136). Bobby reminds the group of what DuShawn said at the Forum: that Bobby and his group were the ones that have to be careful around school, whereas DuShawn and his friends are popular. Bobby, Joe, Skeezie, and Addie begin to make lists of all the mean names they’ve been called over the years. Once they’ve each compiled long lists, Bobby says they should take each name and write them out on pieces of paper with a circle around it and a slash drawn through it. They’ll hang the posters around school, and after a couple of days, they’ll hang new posters announcing the No-Name Party. Addie, Joe, and Skeezie all love Bobby’s idea. Skeezie asks how they’ll get DuShawn to go along with their new idea, and Addie points out that DuShawn has probably been called names too. Finally, Bobby comes up with a slogan, “Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit” (142). Bobby expects his friends to laugh at his slogan, but when they don’t laugh, Bobby realizes he’s come up with “[s]omething even better than funny. What I’ve come up with is the truth” (142).

Chapter 15 Summary

Addie tells DuShawn about their new idea for the No-Name Party. DuShawn says he’s never been called names, saying, “I mean, I know there are bigots out there, okay. And maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve never had to deal with it” (144). Finally, DuShawn reiterates that Addie wants him to run because he is Black, saying, “[Y]ou got eyes that see no further than the color of my skin” (144). DuShawn tells Addie he has to think about whether to be a part of the party.

That night, Addie, Bobby, and Skeezie meet at Joe’s house to type up the names, print them out, and draw circles and slashes through them to make the new posters. Addie wonders whether DuShawn will back out. Skeezie teases Addie, telling her that DuShawn likes her, and points out that DuShawn told her that her skin looked like “peach ice cream” and like “the inside of almonds” (145). Joe teases Addie about her crush on Colin, and Addie gets angry at Skeezie for telling Joe and Bobby about her crush. Bobby reveals to Addie that he has a crush on Kelsey. Addie asks Bobby if he is going to ask Kelsey to the middle school dance, but Bobby says he doesn’t know. Kelsey says she is going to ask Colin to the dance, but she wants to find out if he likes her first. The group continues to tease Addie about her crush on Colin, and they begin jokingly calling each other names. This discussion inspires them to create more posters with all the insulting names they can think of.

Chapter 16 Summary

The next morning, Bobby, Addie, Skeezie, and Joe know they have to be careful to put up the new posters without anybody finding out it is them. During homeroom, they each find an excuse to leave class and put up the posters while the hallway is empty. By lunchtime, everyone in school is talking about the posters and nobody knows who put them up.

At lunch, Skeezie tells Addie that he put a note in Colin’s locker, saying the person who likes him will be at the flagpole at 3:15 p.m. Addie becomes nervous about meeting Colin after school. Joe tells the group that he received a note in his locker from Kelsey. Skeezie tells Joe he should stop being so friendly toward Kelsey; even though Joe is just being nice, he might be sending Kelsey the wrong idea, especially because Kelsey doesn’t know Joe is gay. The group jokes that Skeezie should run an advice column in the school newspaper.

The group notices that everyone in the lunchroom is talking about the name-calling posters. Some are laughing, but others are saying they’ve been called some of the names on the posters. The group agrees to wait a couple days until Thursday to announce the No-Name party.

After school, at Bobby’s locker, Bobby prepares to head to his part-time job while Addie waits at Bobby’s locker until it is time to meet Colin at the flagpole. DuShawn and Tonni approach Addie and announce that DuShawn doesn’t want to run on Addie’s ticket. Just then, Ms. Wyman calls Addie into her classroom. Addie asks Bobby to tell Colin she can’t make it to the flagpole, but Bobby has to leave quickly in order to be on time for his job.

Chapters 13-16 Analysis

Complicated issues of race continue to emerge in this novel. When Addie first comes up with the idea to create a third political party at school, she wants DuShawn to run for student body president, acknowledging that he might help represent her cause, which is to represent minorities, because he is African American. DuShawn takes issue with Addie only wanting him to run because of his race. He explains, “[Y]ou got eyes that see no further than the color of my skin” (144), implicitly sorting Addie into the same category as racists. Addie makes assumptions about DuShawn’s experience even though Addie herself is White. For example, Addie assumes DuShawn will like the idea of the No-Name Party because he must have been called offensive names throughout his life. Even the school principal points out that DuShawn is the only minority on Addie’s ticket, even though she claims her party represents minorities.

Finally, DuShawn, with the support of Tonni, another African American student, decides to drop out of Addie’s political party, a decision that functions as an implicit critique of Addie’s self-centered approach toward racial justice. Even though Addie may believe she is pursuing this cause for the right reasons, it is problematic for her to make assumptions about her classmates’ experiences. Moreover, there may be a kernel of truth to Mr. Kiley’s accusation that Addie views her pursuit of social justice primarily as a way to set herself apart as an iconoclast.

Finally, the novel shows Bobby’s confidence continue to grow, as he draws on his own experience to pivot Addie’s Freedom Party into the No-Name Party. Bobby also expresses his growing confidence through humor throughout this novel. For example, Bobby describes Skeezie’s disgusting eating habits by saying, “If his eating habits were a movie, they’d be rated R for violence” (133). Later, Bobby adds, “I swear, his eating is some kind of performance art. He could charge admission” (137). These humorous moments show Bobby’s cleverness and sharp wit and help characterize both his character and Skeezie’s.