Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Addie on the Inside

One thing all this reading for the Cybils has taught me: I no longer dislike novels in verse. The latest of these, which has totally cured me of my phobia, is James Howe’s Addie on the Inside. (Nominated for the Cybils by Tasha Saecker. All opinions are my own, and are not meant to reflect those of the entire panel.)

Addison “Addie” Carle is living “the purgatory of the middle school years” in a small town in upstate New York. She is an only child, opinionated, and her best friends are a group of misfit boys. One of the misfit boys, Joe, is gay. Addie starts a gay-straight alliance at her school and is taunted accordingly.

Howe, the author of Bunnicula, catches the rollercoaster emotions of middle school with perfect pitch. I have to believe this book was written by Addie, pure and simple, not a sixty-something author. And Addie is a complex character. She stands up for her beliefs, yet part of her also struggles with not being popular and with having the other girls taunt her. Weaving in and out of the narrative is her relationship with her boyfriend, DuShawn; the tender moments, the fights, the break-ups, the getting back together, the final break-up. But through it all Addie is resilient.

Here is part of her final poem:

I am a girl who is growing up

in my own sweet time,

I am a girl who knows enough

to know this life is mine.

I am this and I am that and

I am everything in-between.

I’m a dreamer, I’m a dancer,

I’m a part-time drama queen.

I’m a worrier, I’m a warrior,

I’m a loner and a friend,

I’m an outspoken defender

of justice to the end.

I’m the girl in the mirror

who likes the girl she sees,

I’m the girl in the gypsy shawl

with music in her knees.

As far as I’m concerned, this should be compulsory reading in every middle school classroom. And if you have a strong, spirited daughter who stands up for her beliefs, yet also feels the pressure to conform: THIS BOOK IS ABOUT HER. GET IT FOR HER!

(James Howe doesn't seem to have a website, but he does have a Wikipedia entry. You can read about him HERE.)