Totally Joe (The Misfits)

Totally Joe is a very inspirational book about a boy who is assigned to write an alphabiography about his life. Joe Bunch is gay and it was obvious at a very young age. He is not popular and is bullied by others. He has a great group of supporting friends who except each other for who they are. Joe

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has loving and understanding parents. Joe's friend Addie wants to start club called GSA, Gay-straight alliance. The club would bring together gay and straight kids to talk about ways to make school a safer place for everyone. When the Hennessey family hear about this, they become outraged. Kevin Hennessey, the biggest bully in school, has been bullying Joe for so long but Joe has not told on him. Joe finally works up the courage to tell on Kevin and he becomes suspended from school. This book would be great to share with middle school kids. Kids at this age go through such a change from elementary school to middle and many kids struggle with bullying.

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The book is written as an alphabiography—a chronicle of life with chapters headed from A to Z— by seventh-grader Joe Bunch. He feels the English assignment is going to be boring. What if he tells the truth and someone besides his teacher reads it? The part about ending each chapter with a

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“life lesson” seems totally lame. But as Joe’s chapters build from “A”for his best friend Addie to “T” for turning thirteen and beyond, he finds his entries becoming increasingly honest and thoughtful. He writes about his crush on Colin Briggs, about being gay, and about a world where acceptance and ridicule can be confusingly intertwined.
What is most striking about Totally Joe is not the stand-out hair, apparel and attitude of its flamboyant protagonist but the poignant similarities between his experience and that of all young teens as they striveto be true to themselves in a junior high world where following the crowd—and not one’s own heart—often seems to be the easiest and least painful path. Joe Bunch is an honest and likable gay young adult and an inspiration to anyone struggling to feel good about his or her identity. This book definitely has to be included in any collection designed to be representative of a diverse and tolerant society.

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Booktalk for Totally Joe
Now, I’m sure none of you has ever been called a name that made you feel bad, or had anyone hurt your feelings. And I’m sure you’ve never had to deal with having a crush on someone that may not like you back. And I’m defiantly sure your teachers have NEVER made you

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do lame assignments like writing your own alphabiography… That’s an auto-biography where you say something about yourself for every letter of the alphabet. Totally Joe is just that—and Alphabiography about 7th grader Joe Bunch. You might remember Joe from James Howe’s other book “Misfits” where the “gang of five” made a no-name party to try and stop name calling in school– and you might remember the author James Howe because he also wrote those awesome Bunnicula books. Well, this book—Totally Joe, is hy-lar-i-ous: Let me read you a little bit from the introduction. Joe is writing to his teacher Mr. Daly:
"Dear Mr. Daly: Okay, I admit it. When you first gave us this assignment, I thought it was lame. Write about yourself from A-Z? Bo-ring. (No offense.) Besides worrying that I wouldn't know what to write for every single letter (Hello, does anybody know an x-word other than xylophone? And does anybody play the xylophone? And if they did, would anybody care?), well, I was also thinking, Can I really tell the truth about myself? I'm not ashamed of my life or anything. I'm only thirteen (twelve, when I started writing this), so I doubt I've gotten to the really embarrassing stuff yet, but, let's face it, I'm not exactly your average Joe and I get called plenty of names because of it. And then there was all the stuff that happened this year. I mean, was I really going to write about all that? And when you said we had to end every chapter with a Life Lesson to share with others, I thought: Oh. My. God. That is so Oprah. "
You see what I mean? This book and the voice of Joe are so believable that it will keep you hooked from A all they way to Z.

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This book is adorable. It's got some poignant things to say about being a gay kid, and about families in general, but mostly it's just fun. The narrator has an indomitable spirit and a great voice. It's definitely on the young side of young adult--the kids are in middle school, and my particular

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copy was in the children's section of the library. Could go either way.

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Plot: 12 year old Joe Bunch writes an alphabiography for English class in which recounts coming out, getting a boyfriend and fighting against bullying.

Totally Joe is a companion book to the Misfits. I haven’t read the later but it seems to follow the same characters as they run for student

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government and try to put an end to name calling at school. You don’t need to have read The Misfits to understand this book, everything you need to know is laid out. Joe is writing, as his teacher requested, as though to someone who doesn’t know him. The alphabiography is an interesting narrative device though aside from ordering the way events are narrated, it brings little to the story. This is just another form of the diary narrative.

The story itself is light and fun. It reminded me a little of My Most Excellent Year but with less memorable (though no less good) parents. The book isn’t laugh out loud funny as My Most Excellent Year was but it was good for the occasional chuckle. The message of the book is uplifting without being preachy. The novel starts to touch on some interesting social issues but it never goes very far, limiting itself to one line “life lessons”. That’s ok, not every book needs to delve deeply into these issues.

This is a book targeting tweens and would be best enjoyed by that age group.

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Being gay should be easy for seventh grade Joe, who has a supportive family and a close group of friends. Not inclined to shame or self-loathing, Joe processes his frustrations with a closeted boyfriend and homophobic classmates by writing an Alphabiography assigned by his English teacher.

Although

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James Howe often makes Joe sound like a gay man in his forties (did gay 12 year-olds in 2005 really idolize Cher and reference Mommy Dearest?), his exploration of issues related to adolescent alienation, coming out and school bullying are authentic. Joe's story will be comforting to middle school students struggling to build a positive self-image and help start discussions about how to handle name-calling in schools.

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Totally Joe is a fresh burst of personality. His life is spread out into an alphabiography. Joe is an average boy with some complex problems. This book is a great coming-of-age story. Love, love love it.

This was an awesome book about a young student named Joe. Joe is learning who he is and isn't afraid to let everyone around him know. This would be a great book for students, especially as it is one of the few younger readers narrated by a gay character.

Joe Bunch, a young gay boy, writes an alphabiography for his class telling about his seventh grade year. He writes about himself, his family, his friends, his true love, and his bullies. As he writes his alphabiography, Joe is able to come out to his family and friends and be proud of the young man

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he is becomming.

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Compassionate, real life novel of Joe's inner thoughts as he comes to terms with his homosexual feelings, his core group of close friends and the harsh environment and treatment he receives from unsupportive and bullying classmates and adults that eventually turn his way.

In his alphabiography,an assignment for English class, Joe Bunch humorously chronicles the struggle of being true to himself as a homosexual pre-teen no matter who agrees or disagrees. Whether reading this book as an adult or adolescent, it is impossible not to relate to Joe's story of trying to

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fit into a society that has never quite adapted to universal acceptance.

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Joe, an adolescent boy, discusses his journey of "coming out" in his alphabiography. He discusses his first relationship, bullying, and the unconditional love he received from his family and friends.

Totally Joe is a very sensitive portrayal of young teens struggling with LGBT issues. Joe Bunch is 12 years old and in the 7th grade when the book opens. As a gay teen, he is aware of who he is and what his needs are, which include having the class bully leave him alone. He paints his fingernails

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and streaks his hair and has an awesome Barbie collection. Joe is definitely comfortable with who--to his mind--he has always been.

His crush Colin, however, only knows about himself that he feels more drawn to boys than girls, Joe in particular. He also admires Joe for how easy it is for him to be himself and wishes he could be more like that. Joe and Colin try out their romance, but middle schoolers can be cruel, and Colin determines that he just isn't as ready as Joe to put himself "out there."

My favorite part of this book is the narrative structure through which it is told. Mr. Daly, Joe's teacher, has assigned an "alphabiography," which the kids will have the whole year to write, but which is to be organized alphabetically. So for instance, the first chapter of the book is A for "Addie," Joe's best friend. I can see this making the book a quick read even for struggling readers because some of the chapters are very short. But it also allows Joe to tell his story in his own way, and readers can see his writer's voice developing throughout the course of the year and the alphabet. A very effective strategy for revealing a year in the life of this charming boy.

The overarching themes in the book, however, keep the narrative together, and they are worthy ideas for all of us, not just 12-year-olds, to emulate. Joe's ability to be himself, even though he has to withstand mistreatment by some of his peers (and some of their parents) is, as Colin sees it, a very brave and admirable trait in a 7th grader, and he is rewarded for his depth of self-belief. Additionally, Joe has an amazingly supportive family who, as it turns out, know nearly as much about Joe as he has figured out himself, and so they are able to encourage his development and welcome him to share with them his true self--a great definition of family.

Grades 6-9

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Totally Joe is a story about a twelve-year-old homosexual. Joe is assigned to an write an alphabiography by his english teacher and inside his alphabiography, is the life and perspective of a homosexual teenager.

this was a book that had an unexpcted perspective. From the perspective of a young boy who knew he was gay but had yet to "come out". I loved that the book was Joe's Alphabiography and that it was like having a conversation with Joe at points.

Totally Joe is about a twelve year old boy that is gay. He is assigned to write an alpha biography about his life. For a twelve year old he knows exactly who he is and what he wants. Totally Joe was an interesting read.

In the book, Joe has to write an alphabiography from A to Z about his life. In the book, he talks about his trials and tribulations with "coming out the closet." He has to deal with the school's, his family's and the society's views. In the story, we see him grow as a character by dealing with

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being picked on and being able to stand up for himself. This is a great book to introduce to an older group of students and to a child that seems to have identity issues. The older group of students would be able to deal with it by not judging others and hopefully not picking on students who are different than others. The child with the identity issues can gain courage to be be who they are.

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in this book a young teen struggling with his identiy because of his sexuality has to write a paper for his teacher about himself using all the letters from the alphabet. this paper helps him realize who he is and that it is ok to be himself, despite the nay-sayers.

Totally Joe is about a boy named Joe who is homosexual and doesn't want may people to know. While given an assignment in english class he expresses his feelings and decides to tell his family. When he tells them they had already known and were very open with his decisions. This is a great book to

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teach students about diversity and that it is okay to be different. It shows that no matter what sex you are or what youe believe in doesn't make you a bad person.

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Totally Joe is just a really fantastic book that I wish I would have read sooner. I must have picked it up at least 10 different times in my high school library, and decided against it. It intrigued me because the main character is gay, but I felt I couldn't relate to it because the main character

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is a gay boy. I have never related to males well, not that I have anything against them, I just happen to prefer books based around women. When I finally did read the whole thing I wanted to slap myself for not reading it sooner! It's about a kid named Joe, and the book is told through an english assignment that Joe is doing for class. The assignment is an alphabiography, telling about himself using all 27 letters of the alphabet. We learn a lot about Joe this way, including about his crush on Colin. Joe is a really smart, funny, awesome kid and that is something any reader can appreciate. The book is a great read for any young teen, good for learning about acceptance of differences.

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This would be a great book for a student in middle school to read. I might allow it for a fifth grade class but no lower than that; parents may get offended. I like how it shows the realty of being gay at such a young age. It touches on both sides of it being excepted and not being excepted. I

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believe after a student reading this they may be less likely to bully those or question their differences. Many people are just unaware of these things so they don’t know how to react to it, pre-teens and teens being the worst. So why not give them a little insight to how and why a person may be gay.

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Joe has been given an assignment by his English teacher to write an alphabiography. In this he writes things he won't let anyone read because they are very private. He writes about his entire life, including the fact that he is gay and that he just recently came out to his family. This book tell of

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the hard times Joe had to go through because of the fact that he is different. I believe if this book was assigned to a mature class they would learn alot from it.

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I loved this book! A book about a homosexual adolescent boy who is struggiling with being himself in todays society. This would be a good book to teach students about accepting others differences.

Joe is a confident, and gay 13 year old boy. He is discovering more about himself, and grows more sure of his sexuality through the support of his friends and family. I really liked this book since it showed the negative effects of bullying. Students really need to respect each other and their

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differences. I would push a "No-Name Calling Week" in the school. I feel it would build up better comrade. Although some parents may be offended discussing gay rights in class, I feel it is important for students to learn you can't choice to be gay.

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