Customer Reviews

On the Fringe

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used selections from this collection as read-alouds for my 8th grade language arts class (I end class most days with a read-aloud, while students keep a response journal). Because of the subject matter, these stories definitely engage the students and keep their attention. Do they all "get" the message? No, but I guarantee that when you look around the room and see the eyes of those two or three students who are themselves on the fringe, you will know it was worth it.

As a middle school teacher I am constantly trying to help those who are on the fringe to feel more included and to understand that being on the fringe is not such a bad thing! This book does just that! It is an amazing book and I am using it to lead discussions in my reading class. I have kids fighting over it at the end of each class period. The stories are real and my middle school students are able to connect with them. I highly recommend it!

"On the Fringe" is a book of short stories compiled by different authors. The stories do contain one central topic, youth that are considered outsiders. These outsiders face many different problems. One story focuses on hygiene problems, one is about a boy that is short, thin, and is nervous around his peers, and yet another is about an outcast who took his aggression out with a gun at school. These stories did not all focus on one person; several had a cluster of individuals that were ins ome way or another ostricized by the seemingly perfect in-crowd.
We all read this book with deep interest. We felt that it was easy to read due to the fact that they were short stories. We had a desire to find out what happened in each one. We felt like it was very informative. The stories definitely opened our eyes to a variety of issues that neither one of us had ever imagined existed. We, as a society, tend to close our eyes to so much that is unpleasant. This book brings out that side, the one that no one wants to realize exists.
As for liking this book and recommending it, we thought that it was very enlightening and educational, but we would not recommend it for school-aged children to read. It touches on many topics that do happen in our schools, and we do not think that children should be given examples of how to humiliate other students. This is a book that we would recommend to adults. This book illustrates what is going in the heads of kids that do not fit the perfect student role model. These are everyday young adults with problems. This collaboration of stories opened our eyes, and hopefully helped us to know who we, as future teachers, are looking for that need extra love and attention. Maybe with our eyes open, we will be able to counteract some of the negativity that these future adults undergo and keep them from performing a drastic event that will seal their fate forever.

There is a war going on in our schools. Although many people may not see it or many people may not be aware of it the war is there I'm talking about the on going fighting between "outcasts" and the "populars". Through some tragic events, some heart warming, and some that just want to make you stand up to anyone who gets in your way you see the realities of violence and harshness of some lives which are the victims of this so called war. Through theses collections of short stories with authors such as Jack Gantos many lessons can be learned. It is a book that will make think about the kids at your school and events that have happened in your community that have taken place I this book. Maybe this book may change the way you think and make you a better person.
One of these short stories by Chris Crutcher is "Guns For Geeks." In this story Gene Taylor has always been the "outcast" at school. When he was young he was beaten in front his class for smarting off to the teacher Mr. Dickenson at their Christmas party. As he went on through school his troubles went on he was even yelled at when he had to give a statement in front of the student body! The main characters in this story are Sam and T.J. They are Mr. Beemer's class and are taking about guns in school but little do they know Gene Taylor is going to turn this lesson into first hand view of what death is like.
Through these shocking and horrible happenings, Sam and T.J. are forced to be heroes. Sometimes lessons can be learned through the most horrible experiences you could ever think of. Chris Crutcher does an excellent job at this by going through the troubles of boy's life. Who lashes out at all those people who thought was quiet and never thought anything of him. It shows that everything can change in the blink of an eye.
This book is great for any student who loves comedy, action, tragedy, and drama. This book has it all with the amazing short stories that are collected within the book. It is a great read and I highly recommend this book to anyone students or adults' whom are just looking for a good easy read. I love this book and I think it is fantastic.

This fantastic collection of tales of teens on the fringes of high school society surpasses all YA (young adult) anthologies before. Comfort for fringe-dwellers, a wake-up call for those in the mainstream, and insight for teachers and other people who work with teens, all wrapped up in one. Wonderful, and a must for every YA library collection.

I'm writing this because I'm aghast at some of the other reviews of "On the Fringe." It's a bad book because of its length? Not necessarily. Most of its stories are shorter than the average New Yorker fiction piece, and there's no need to read them all to enjoy the book. Short story collections don't have to be read straight through like a chapter book.

Another complaint: It shouldn't have examples of how kids humiliate other kids lest it give them ideas on how to be mean? Well, guess what? Kids don't need a book to teach them meanness. They pick it up from peers and TV quite nicely, and also from their families and society at large. Just look at the current news, whether international, national or local.

This book is a good start for a discussion about school violence, such as Columbine. The authors get inside the heads of their teenage protagonists nicely and for the most part, the dialogue and actions come across as authentic, not forced. A brief bio follows each story, explaining why the author chose the subject he or she did.

Standouts in my opinion were "Standing on the Roof Naked" by Francess Lantz, "A Letter from the Fringe" by Joan Bauer, and "Through a Window" by Angela Johnson. The last is unique to the book because it focuses on a character who might be classified as a bystander, not a victim or bully.

I'm actually 18, I just didn't feel like signing in so I used the kid review.

Anyways, I love this book. I bought it in junior high when I was a teased outcast and it helped me cope. But even without the personal attachement, On the Fringe is simply a good set of short stories. Most people would think the stories are the typical school shooter, wimpy-geek-with-glasses, anti-jock stories but there's a good amount of variety. Granted, it does have the stereotypes I described but it also has stories from people who are not necessarily considered to be on the fringe but do consider themselves to be out of the norm in some way. For example, the first story is about a popular young girl who thinks interviewing the outcasts for the school paper would do them a favor and show some compassion. The story travels with her to reveal some harsh truths and psychological growth. Another is about a young, average teen contemplating over the suicide of a friend. Yet another is about a girl who is somewhat popular and the kinds of insecurities that she deals with. Other stories deal with sexuality, being Christian, different cultural aspects, and just plain feeling left out and bullied.

The subject matter is intriguing but the thing about On the Fringe is the set of authors. They did a magnificient job of creating psychological and observational insight and growth. These are not simply stories about events among outside kids, they go into the depths of feelings, thoughts, and progress of those involved in such situations; that's why it's a great book. We already know what's going on among these kids, what we need to open our eyes to are the why's, who's, and how's of these situations.

And concerning another review, I would question the significance of an education major who can't spell "unnecessary", doesn't know the difference between "fowl" and "foul" and wants to shield teenage students from bad language. On the Fringe doesn't use any more foul language than any other book and certainly not anything young teens and kids haven't already heard, used, or been subjected to.

I found this book to be well written and engaging, but being unpopular is not enough to hold a book together. For example, I just read "SIGHTS" (Vance), and it was the same theme, but had the depth of character and landscape to make it work. Teens appreciate literature, which "FRINGE" is not.

We found that this book deserved four stars. It involved an array of short stories. All of the stories were controversial and shared the same large-scale theme of outsiders, or those who are considered to live "on the fringe." However, each of the stories dealt with very unique and individual characters. Not one of the stories was the same. One of the stories dealt with a girl who never developed properly, while yet another focused on a girl who had bad personal hygiene. Not all of the selections had only one main character. One mentioned all of the outsiders in a school. My favorite story was "Geeks Bearing Gifts" because it involved the "in crowd" becoming dangerously involved with the "out crowd." When I was in high school, I never noticed so many different cliques. This book really opened my eyes. For this reason, we think that this selection would be an excellent one for junior high and high school students to read. My literary partner's favorite was "Muzak for Prozac". This was for the fact that it showed how rumors can detrimentally affect those around us -- especially in the growing up years. It really made me think back to how viscous people can be. This is true especially through the growing up years of our lives. If people in high school or junior high did not wear the 'right' clothes, or if they had different morals, principles, and ethics, they were ostracized for these reasons. This book courageously addressed suicide, assault, religious beliefs, sexual preference, and guns in schools. As a teacher, we think that this book is beneficial in allowing one to see into the minds and hearts of students everywhere.

the book is great i had to read it for young adult literature and i enjoyed it. great book for intermediate and high school students