Totally Joe

Not a tough read and enjoyable. Might keep in the library for when my child is older, good read for younger audience (12+)

Reviewed by TP May, 2009 Totally Joe is a moving and inspiring story by James Howe. Totally Joe is a continuation of The Misfits, which is also by James Howe. Totally Joe is the school assigned alpha biography of Joe, who is a gay middle schooler at Paintbrush Falls Middle School. In this alpha biography, Joe Bunch talks about his many problems, events, and emotions. Obviously, being gay in junior high school, he has A LOT, to talk about. James Howe did a good job writing this book. I like how at the end of each chapter, there is a life lesson shown based on the events of the chapter. This keeps the story flowing smoothly and leaves you thinking. I would rate this book with 5 stars. It is very moving and inspiring because he is not afraid to be himself, no matter what people say. For example, he gets a boyfriend and he holds his hand on Halloween even though the other kids are making fun of them. I would suggest this to any one who has gone through middle school. It makes people realize that life is short and you should just be yourself. -TP

Totally Joe is totally awesome. Its realistic fiction. James Howe is the author of this book. If I had to rate this book I would rate it a 10 but since we can only rate it 5 then I'm rating it a 5 because it's really intense and it really gets down it to detail. I would definitely recommend anyone to read this book it doesn't matter how old you are. But anyways let me tell you what the story is all about. Joe the main character is a gay middle school student. Joe's English teacher tells him to write an alpha biography. A-z. And Joe also tells us about his everyday life and what happens to him each day and how people bully him by calling him names like fag, fairy and queer. He also finds a guy he like named Colin. They date for a while but Colin is not ready to tell his friends or his parents that he is gay. So they brake up. They don't speak for a while but then the start speaking again. But it all worked out for Joe because he finds someone new. By J.M By BG: Have you ever seen someone being made fun of? Or made fun of someone else? Well, in the book Totally Joe by James Howe, a 13 year old, named Joe, and his friends deal with being picked on everyday. Joe and his best friends Bobby, Addie, and Skeezie are made fun of because numerous reasons. But, the reason why Joe is made fun of is because he is gay. Joe is constantly being made fun of by a bunch of insecure bullies who are bored with their own lives. In the book, Joe realizes that he is different and that people will just have to get over it. Joe and his friends also try and stop name-calling in their school. While trying to stop name-calling, Joe is called many, because he is gay. Also, some of Joe's other friends are called names because of the way they behave. I rated this book a 10 because it teaches people many lessons. One lesson is that it teaches people it is ok to be gay or different. Also, it teaches people that making fun of people is not acceptable, and even if you do it, it doesn't hurt people the way you want it to. Also, because of how the author makes you feel like you are Joe and you are experiencing the things he is. James Howe did a great job because it really captures the reader, and it is told from Joe's perception of things. This is also a good book because; it is in the form of an alpha-biography. BG

In Totally Joe, we are presented with the main character Joe (sometimes JoDan) Bunch's alphabiography--the story of his life from A to Z, complete with chapters that end with a Life Lesson to share with others. I must say, I like the idea of this writing assignment--it's simple enough, and structured and methodical in ways that satisfyingly feed my anal retentiveness. It brings an order to the book, alphabetical, sometime chronological, and always moving along. At the heart of this alphabiography assignment is the task to be self-reflexive. (Now what self-respecting feminist isn't into being self-reflexive?) However, despite Totally Joe being presented as a confidential, journal-type text strictly between Joe and his teacher, Mr. Daly, we know as readers that we are to match Joe's self-reflexivity with our own. (Isn't all reading about this?) In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and have been quite disappointed to see reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist that critique it for its idealism and treats its optimism as a liability instead of an asset. What ever happened to hope? to dreams? (Or, for to letting fiction be fiction?) I believe in the power of imagination to bring about change. Utopia should not be a dirty six letter word. Is everything in Totally Joe completely believable? Hardly. But if it were, wouldn't that be something?

Totally Joe by James Howe follows the life of the 12-going-on-13 year old narrator Joe Bunch, and the situations within his life in the form of an alphabiography assigned by his English teacher Mr. Daly. Each chapter begins with and is structured around a letter, and each ends with a "life lesson" that Joe has learned along the way. However the book is remarkable not just for its unique and creative format, but for breaking new ground with Joe as a 12 year old gay kid. Joe is not a character questioning his sexuality; he firmly knows he is gay. However he has to navigate this, along with issues of gender, sexism, masculinity, femininity, double standards, and oppression in his middle school setting. Howe manages to deal with complex issues normally reserved for older YA or adult literature such as same-sex dating (in particular, dating someone who is closeted), GSAs, and coming out to family at this young age without ever loosing cultural authenticity. The book offers numerous insights on teenage popularity and the cutthroat war zone mentality that accompanies it, and is written in extremely contemporary language that makes the protagonist (Joe) believable and real. The book is extremely diverse, and includes various individuals that challenge social norms, like Addie's vegetarian parents or Brian's widowed father or Skeezie's single mother. It also shows individuals like Aunt Pam who is implied to be a victim of some form of domestic abuse. The book doesn't wrap itself up in preachy diatribes on these topics, but instead weaves these elements into the average daily life of Joe Bunch. Some critics have said that Joe's liberal family is too much of a fantasy, and to some extent that may be true. It would be rare to find a family where the grandfather is so accepting that he gives a 13 year old a little pride bumper sticker, however it is not impossible for families like this to exist now, or to inspire the straight kids that read this book to make their families that accepting in the future.

"Sometimes we live no particular way but our own." --Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia, "Eyes of the World" Joe Bunch, The Early Years: "My mom says that I played wedding for about a year and that I kept asking everybody if they would marry me. Even Jeff. (That was the only time anyone can remember Jeff threatening to clobber me on a regular basis.) I had my Lainy doll marry my Ken doll. I also had her marry some of my Barbies. And G.I. Joe. (I hated that the soldier doll had my name. I mean, please. I didn't play with him much. He was another Christmas present from my clueless grandparents. One time when they were visiting, my grandpa asked me if G.I. Joe had been in any wars lately. I said, 'No, but he and Ken got married last week.' Every Christmas since then, my grandparents have sent me a check.)" "A dangerous book!" (I can just hear it being thundered from certain pulpits and radio talk shows.) "Boy dolls marrying boy dolls! Obscene! Pornographic!" As some of you already know, Alabama state representative Gerald Allen, who is reported to have had at least five meetings with President Bush, introduced state legislation earlier this year that would ban public funding for any books with gay characters or content to protect children from "the homosexual agenda." (No child left behind unless they're gay, right?) For those books already in the state's public and university libraries, Allen suggests that people "dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them." "But ain't that America, for you and me." --John Mellencamp, "Pink Houses" You may also have a tough time locating a copy of TOTALLY JOE in Oklahoma. According to an American Library Association press release issued earlier today: "The Oklahoma House passed 81-3 a nonbinding resolution May 9 asking public libraries 'to confine homosexually themed books and other age-inappropriate material to areas exclusively for adult access and distribution.' The resolution explains that because 'children need guidance and protection by adults to ensure their maturation is timely' parents should be 'free from interference from the distribution of inappropriate publicly cataloged materials.' "HR 1039 was introduced by Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), who released a statement after the resolution?s passage that affirmed lawmakers are 'not looking to ban any books' but merely acknowledging that 'there are some issues little children aren't emotionally equipped to tackle, and many parents believe the issue of sexual preference is one of them.' " (Certain unenlightened library systems in Oklahoma are already scurrying to get these books back in the closet where they belong.) "E.T. does not have a fabulous name and is majorly ugly, but ever since the first time I saw him (I was six), I couldn't get him out of my mind. I began thinking I was from some other planet and wishing I could go home, just like E.T. I would even look up at the sky at night and try to pick out which planet was mine. I had