Addie on the Inside
By James Howe
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
The Gang of Five is back in this third story from Paintbrush Falls. Addie Carle, the only girl in the group of friends is outspoken, opinionated, and sometimes…just a bit obnoxious.
But as seventh grade progresses, Addie’s not so sure anymore about who she is. It seems her tough exterior is just a little too tough and that doesn’t help her deal with the turmoil she feels on the inside as she faces the pains of growing up.
Told in elegant, accessible verse, ADDIE ON THE INSIDE gives readers a look at a strong, smart, and sensitive girl struggling with the box society wants to put her in. Addie confronts experiences many readers will relate to: the loss of a beloved pet, first heartbreak, teasing…but also, friendship, love, and a growing confidence in one’s self.
You Are Who They Say You Are
They say in the seventh grade
you are who they say you are,
but how can that be true?
How can I be a /Godzilla-girl /lezzie loser /know-it-all/
big-mouth /beanpole /string bean/ freaky tall/
fall-down /spaz attack /brainiac /maniac/
hopeless nerd /*bad word*/brown-nosing /teacher’s pet/
showing off /just to get
attention –
oh,
and did I mention:
flat-chested…
How can I be all that?
It’s too many things to be.
How can I be all that and
still be true to the real me
while everyone is saying:
This
is
who
you
are.
James Howe
James Howe is the author of more than ninety books for young readers. Bunnicula, coauthored by his late wife Deborah and published in 1979, is considered a modern classic of children’s literature. The author has written six highly popular sequels, along with the spinoff series Tales from the House of Bunnicula and Bunnicula and Friends. Among his other books are picture books such as Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores and beginning reader series that include the Pinky and Rex and Houndsley and Catina books. He has also written for older readers. The Misfits, published in 2001, inspired the nationwide antibullying initiative No Name-Calling Week, as well as three sequels, Totally Joe, Addie on the Inside, and Also Known as Elvis. A common theme in James Howe’s books from preschool through teens is the acceptance of difference and being true to oneself. Visit him online at JamesHowe.com.
Read more from James Howe
Howliday Inn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bunnicula Strikes Again! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Misfits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Celery Stalks At Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nighty-Nightmare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Return to Howliday Inn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Totally Joe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dew Drop Dead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEat Your Poison, Dear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Also Known as Elvis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Teddy Bear's Scrapbook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for Addie on the Inside
36 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Teen/middlegrade fiction; anti-bullying written in poetry. Much of this wasn't really poetry, just short, broken up sentences to keep the number of words per page down to what we deem a "digestible" amount for reluctant readers. I'm not a huge fan of the style (bad poetry? Oh NOetry!), and would prefer to just have larger print/wider spacing/smaller pages like other authors have done. I haven't read The Misfits or James Howe's (of Bunnicula fame) other book about gay Joe, so I can't comment on how well this serves as a companion to those, but on it's own I was not overly impressed. Addie is a strong character and I like how she stands up to bullying and gay-intolerance--we definitely need more characters like her in children's/YA lit, but I felt the whole novel-in-verse thing was not an effective vehicle for her story. Also, the cover's awful.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Misfits, to which this book is a companion, is one of my favorite books--the kind of book I desperately wish had existed when I was twelve, because I would have related to all of the main characters for different reasons. Addie on the Inside, while not evoking the same kind of enthusiasm when I read it, would probably have appealed to the twelve year old me just as much, but in a slightly different way. The whole book is poetry--it tells the story of Addie, the lone female character, as a series of poems that she writes after the events of The Misfits has died down. It's quite heady and very serious in only the way nerdy, opinionated, angsty twelve year old girls can be. The voice is perfect, and Howe manages to cover quite a lot of hot middle school topics without beating them to death.
Overall, sweet and serious and worth a read. In order to appreciate it fully, you would probably have to read The Misfits first, though. It could stand on its own, but just barely. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conpanion to Totally Joe and The Misfits, this time the book focuses on Addie and the trials and tirbulations of being 13.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I didn't read The Misfits. I'm certain it was wonderful. I do know that James Howe has an uncanny connection to the 7th grade girl. The girl who is uncertain and trying to fit in while doing what she knows is right and feeling misunderstood and grieving the end of her childhood yet yearning to be an adult... Obviously, I might still have some unfinished business from my own adolescence.There are simply too many gems to address so I will touch on only a few.I loved the prose. Written in poetry form, the feelings and experiences are concise and artistically painted. I felt Addie's angst and it was well placed.Addie's connection to her grandmother was simply beautiful. In her social travels, she found she was most at home with the eccentric old lady that truly understood her and cheered her on. I've found that I value my children's relationships with their grandparents more than ever. It grounds them.Kennedy and Johnson, Addie's cats - seem to have a radar that hones in when a 13 year old girl needs a good cry. That happens to be the moment when one or the other settle upon Addie's lap and calm her nerves with the rhythmic purr and kneading. Okay, I added the kneading. Some things I still understand even though this was true for me when I was 13 and still is now that I'm significantly older than 13.The complete and utter devastation of feeling like a social pariah. The laughs, the name calling, the shunning.Addie is a calm girl. She takes the end of her romantic relationship with DuShawn with poise.Until she gets home and throws herself on her bed and cries and cries.In order to properly address heartbreak and a 13 year old girl, the author should have dedicated 245 more poems to this angst. However, taking literary license to sum it up in just a few pages saves the reader from becoming bored.Loved it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Told through poetry, Addie on the Inside is all about Addie Carle, a young woman on a mission to make the world a better place. She's having to deal with a lot of stuff- lack of development physically, overabundant development mentally, first boyfriend, fitting in socially, and so many other things. By the end of the book, some things have drastically changed for Addie. However, nothing will ever change her sense of justice and desire to do some good for the world.I love that authors are experimenting for young adults and writing in verse. It's a great way to show that self expression can be done in many different ways. That being said, I'm not sure this book was entirely successful. It was a bit difficult to get into the story. Of course, I have not read any of the other books with these characters that preceeded this one, so that may have been part of the problem. Sometimes I felt like Addie didn't read like a girl to me, and to be honest there were times I didnt' really like her at all. I understand her need to champion the causes she believed it, but at times she came across as rather pretentious. Addie did seem to soften up some as the book went on, so I began to like her much better towards the end. I guess there were just too many hard edges on her at the beginning of the book. I think is a good book for teens who are activists looking for a kindred spirit. They will certainly find much to admire and possibly emulate. I appreciate the author's experimentation using verse to help get to know Addie better, and as things changed for Addie she because a character I had much more sympathy for her. There are probably a lot of people who will feel really moved by Addie's story, I just wasn't one of them.Galley provided by publisher for review.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved the way this was written in chunks in verse. This is one of those books every teacher needs to have on their shelves. The book is a great look at middle school life and how students bully each other without thinking they are bullying. It is a great look at how words hurt and how one student, Addie, copes with it. I loved Addie’s character. She starts off sounding as if she has a shell built around her and doesn’t care what others think about her. Slowly the layers are peeled away so that we can see her true heart. This should be mandatory reading for all students.
Book preview
Addie on the Inside - James Howe
James Howe
Bestselling Author
Addie on the Inside
A Companion to The Misfits
Addie on the Inside, by James Howe, Atheneum Books for Young ReadersTo Zoey
Prologue
Who Do You See?
The poems that follow
are written in the voice of
Addie on the inside.
But this poem is written
from me to you,
writer to reader.
I want to ask you:
Who do you see
when you think of me?
Am I young or old,
wise or a fool,
teacher or friend?
Who do you see
when you think of you?
Are you an outsider,
cool, distant, angry,
swimming against the current,
or are you in the flow?
When they tell you,
This is who you are,
do you say yes or no?
Who do you see
when you look at them?
You know the ones I mean:
the others, the olders,
the youngers, the ones
who are not you, not
like you or your friends,
who wear the labels
you give them until
they give them back,
saying, I believe these
belong to you.
Who do you see when a girl
like Addie walks down the hall,
sharp-eyed, tall,
when a girl like Addie
raises her hand in class
for the hundredth time
offering opinion as fact
and outrage as opinion,
wearing her attitudes
more comfortably than her
less than awesome clothes?
Who do you see
when you look beyond
the skin and the surface,
when you drift to sleep,
when you are the person
no one else knows? Who
are you on the inside?
Don’t answer these questions.
Not yet. First, open your eyes,
your mind, your heart.
See.
—James Howe
This Purgatory of the Middle School Years
You Are Who They Say You Are
They say in the seventh grade
you are who they say you are,
but how can that be true?
How can I be a
Godzilla-girl
lezzie loser
know-it-all
big mouth
beanpole
string bean
freaky tall
fall-down
spaz attack
brainiac
maniac
hopeless nerd
*bad word*
brown-nosing
teacher’s pet
showing off
just to get
attention—
oh,
and did I
mention:
flat-chested
(that’s true)
badly dressed
(says you)
social climber
(such a lie)
rabble-rouser
(well, I try)
tree-hugging
tofu-eating
button-wearing
sign-waving
slogan-shouting
protest-marching
troublemaking
hippie-dippy
throwback
to another
time and place?
How can I be all that?
It’s too many things to be.
How can I be all that and
still be true to the real me
while everyone is saying:
This
is
who
you
are.
Every morning I wake up worrying
and not about crushes
or acne or whether
I should stuff my bra
so people will know
I’m wearing one.
I worry about
global warming and
polar bears dying and
war and
more and
more and
more.
I worry about
injustice and
how to make the world
a better place,
because I contend
that if you are not part
of the solution,
you are part
of the problem.
I worry about
the rights of minorities
and I worry about
all the people
who love people
that the people who hate them
don’t want them to love.
I worry about
my parents and
I worry about
my friends and
I worry about
people I don’t even know
who have lost their homes
and their jobs and have
nowhere to go and
I worry about
what happens to
all of their pets and
I worry about
the economy and
the national debt.
I worry about
the animals that are
going extinct
and the animals that are
abused just so we can have
a new scent of perfume
or a new kind of shoes.
I worry how in the world
the world will ever be okay. Then
I turn off my alarm
and get on with the day.
Rush Hour
Morning. Toast. Butter. Jam.
Eggs? No thanks. I am
gathering up my homework,
they are blowing on their tea.
Grandma’s coming for a visit.
That’s nice, I say. Is it
for a weekend or a week?
Backpack. Keys. Other shoe.
A week or maybe more. Dad
shakes his head at bad
news in the paper. Cereal?
Only if there’s Special K.
Why did I wear black pants?
Mom asks after a chance
encounter between both her legs
and both the cats.
Look at the time. Dishes. Sink.
Feed the cats. Quickly drink
the last of the orange juice.
Grab a sweater.
Joe’s at the door. Let’s go,
he calls out, and I know
I’m forgetting something.
Where’s my kiss? calls Dad.
Peck on the cheek. Money
for lunch. Mom says, Honey,
remember what we talked about.
I’ve no idea what she means.
I will, I say, and I’m out the door,
the cats pushing ahead, off to explore.
Joe says something that
makes me laugh.
Sidewalks. Curbs. Friends wave
at us from the next street. They’ve
got backpacks. Toast. Butter. Jam.
Who knows why I’m happy.
I just am.
Becca Has Something to Say
My best friends are
Joe
and
Bobby
and
Skeezie,
and even though I have other friends,
these three are my best, oldest, truest,
and forever ones.
This morning, between English and art,
in the three minutes when the hall
is like a race being run by animals
sprung from their cages, when it’s all
you can do to get to your locker
and get to your class,
Becca Wrightsman takes the time
to point out that my best friends are
all boys. Really, Addie,
she says,
"that’s so gay." She smiles
as if she were my best and oldest
and truest and forever friend
before shouting, Tonni, wait up!
I stand there as she and Tonni
knock their heads together, laughing,
stand there as the other kids stampede by,
roar past, as bells ring and doors slam shut
up and down the hall,
stand there until I am the only one,
saying to no one at all:
It is not.
That’s so gay
is an expression I hate.
Do you mind if I change it
to that’s so straight
?
The Good Samaritan
Becca Wrightsman says to me—
out of nowhere at all—says to me,
I can fix your look.
This
is in the hall just before French.
Excuse me?
Really, Addie.
Twirling her
hair. "You need a makeover.
For starters you should wear a
bra." Dropping her voice,
raising her eyebrows. "Even if,
you know, there’s nothing
there."
Excuse me?
"And you could use some
blush and then there’s your
hair, that’s going to be a
challenge. But you know me,
I love a challenge. Oops,
there’s the bell. Gotta run.
TTFN."
Excuse me:
I do not know you
and I am wearing a bra
and nobody says TTFN
and now
I am late
for French.
Who is Becca Wrightsman
with her skintight jeans
and her pouty-pouty lips
and the way she moves her hips
that made Jimmy Lemon
collide with Jason Kline so
they both dropped their backpacks
at the very same time?
(I am so not kidding.)
With her perfect little purse
and her perfect phony tan
and the way she waves her hands
as if her nails are drying
and bats her doe-y eyes like
she’s on the verge of crying.
(Give me a break.)
With her text message life
and her gossip girl demeanor
and the way there is nothing
she allows to come between her
and anything she wants.
With her taunts and her sneers
and all the little cruelties
she sprinkles through the day.
Where is she