James Howe's Also Known as Elvis

I totally forgot to do this review!

The fourth book in the Misfits series focuses on Skeezie, who I always liked, but with this book, firmly places himself as my favorite character.

This one is set during the summer after the events of the first three books. Addie, Bobby and Joe are all going on vacations, some of them to multiple places. So Skeezie faces a bunch of time alone.

His mother is struggling with working two jobs and wants him to get one, so he finds work at the Candy Kitchen, the gang's favorite hangout. He quickly becomes a valuable employee, despite his young age, and his friendship with Steffi, the waitress that first appeared in the first book, deepens.

However, of course we've got to have some conflict, so enter Skeezie's dad, who left them I forget how many years before. The book follows Skeezie's ever-changing feelings about his dad, who has a new life in Rochester, NY (ha, I used to go there a lot) alongside his new girlfriend. He wants to marry her, which is why he's come back to town, to divorce Skeezie's mom.

Skeezie also struggles with an odd relationship with Becca, Addie's childhood friend who was terrible to her in Addie's book, then they ended up being friends. Becca acts like she likes Skeezie and talks him into helping her pick out a dog at the shelter, but when she's with her popular friends, she treats him like shit. While they're at the shelter, Skeezie falls in love with a dog, despite his tragic past with his childhood dog, and starts to realize Becca's not actually that into him.

Skeezie's dad invites him to come live with him and he eventually agrees and is surprised on the day they leave when he sees that his dad has adopted the dog he wanted from the shelter. But on the way to Rochester, Skeezie has a change of heart and realizes he belongs back at home with his mom, sisters and friends. Skeezie's dad is disappointed, but he takes him home and his mom even lets him keep the dog.

The entire story is framed by adult Skeezie talking to his unborn son and it's revealed at the end that he ended up marrying Steffi and they own and run the Candy Kitchen. Which we knew from the last part of Bobby's book, but it was still cool.

I think this was the best-written of the four books. I can't say exactly why. I just really like Skeezie.