The Obnoxious Jerks - Softcover

Manes, Stephen

3.86

149 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553281143 ISBN 13: 9780553281149

Publisher: Starfire, 1990

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Who are the Obnoxious Jerks?

A: The weirdest band of total misfits ever seen at any known high school in the free world.

B: Amateur comedians whose routines include kazoos, used chewing gum, and gooey lemon meringue pies.

C: Members of a club whose Official Ice Cream Flavor is Nuts to You.

D: A disorganized organization whose exploits are required reading for anybody with a sense of humor.

All of the above--and more . . .

There are jerks in every high school. The Obnoxious Jerks are found only at Ullman Griswold Memorial High (or, as they prefer to call it, UGH). They specialize in pranks (better known as "jerk-outs") designed to show how ridiculous some school rules can be. Which means the detention hall sometimes becomes the Jerks' unofficial meeting room.

Then something happens to shake up Jerkdom: A girl known as "Iceberg" Freeze asks to join the all-male club-that's-not-a-club. It's not long before she finds herself at the center of the greatest jerk-out ever--one that involves picket signs, mass demonstrations, and guys wearing skirts.

What's acceptable behavior? What's worth fighting for? The Obnoxious Jerks twist, bend, and break the rules to find out. And in the process learn a lot about questioning not only the outside world, but also themselves.

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From the Author:

Praise for The Obnoxious Jerks!

"Brighter than their 'brain-dead' classmates who yearn only for popularity, the Jerks concentrate on creating clever protests against stupid authority. . . hilarious . . . Breezy repartee and likable characters sharpen the bite of this trenchant view of the social stratification and administrative inflexibility typical of American high schools."
--School Library Journal

". . . this lighthearted romp . . . sparkles with puckish exuberance."
--Publishers Weekly

". . . goofy, brazen antics . . . Manes manages to make a good point while he entertains with fast-flying humor and an iconoclastic view of school that are bound to appeal."
--Booklist

"This bright, unpredictable cast creates enough havoc in its quintessentially dull school to keep readers thoroughly entertained."
--Kirkus Reviews

"It was the first book that ever made me laugh out loud while I was reading it, and it still does every time I read it. . . . It's a great book about smart-aleck students trying to change some of the dumber things about high school. This book makes fun of the standard cliques in high schools: the jocks, student government, and those that just go along with the status quo."
--Goodreads

"I loved The Obnoxious Jerks . . . A huge, influential piece of my growing up . . ."
--Through a Glass, Darkly

"I loved that book. I must have read it more than a hundred times. . . My copy became waterlogged, dog-eared, and stained with chocolate ice cream. I read it so often that I still have scenes memorized."
--The Prosers

From Publishers Weekly:

Readers seeking a respite from "problem" novels need look no further than this lighthearted romp. This book sparkles with puckish exuberance, even though the central conflict that fuels the story is a minor one. Narrator Frank "Back" Wess is new at Ullman Griswold Memorial High School (known as "UGH") and doesn't fit in with any of the established cliques of jocks, nerds, druggies, heavy metal fans or just plain dopes. Enter the Obnoxious Jerks, who ask Back to join their non-club of just regular guys, whose sole official function is to perform "jerk-outs" that prick the balloon of societal pomposity. Their schoolmates either ignore or insult the Obnoxious Jerks, until seemingly shy Leslie asks Back if she can join. Back's in a quandarycan a girl join an all-boys club, even if it doesn't have any rules? Although Leslie proves she's Jerk material during her performance in the school's annual talent contest, her membership is still uncertain because Back's best friend Ippolito seems to have a vendetta against her. It's only after she comes up with skirts for the boys to wear in their biggest jerk-out ever (to protest a school rule banning shorts) that Leslie is unanimously voted in as a full Obnoxious Jerk. Allowing girls as members means the non-club will be forever changed, Back finds, but "different" doesn't mean "worse." Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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