What do you think?
Rate this book
The Obnoxious Jerks
Who are the Obnoxious Jerks?
The weirdest band of total misfits ever seen at any known high school in the free world.
Amateur comedians whose routines include kazoos, used chewing gum, and gooey lemon meringue pies.
Members of a club whose Official Ice Cream Flavor is Nuts to You.
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 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.
The weirdest band of total misfits ever seen at any known high school in the free world.
Amateur comedians whose routines include kazoos, used chewing gum, and gooey lemon meringue pies.
Members of a club whose Official Ice Cream Flavor is Nuts to You.
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 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.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
4 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Manes
34 books24 followersStephen Manes (born 1949) wrote the "Digital Tools" column that appeared in every issue of Forbes until recently when he took a break. He is expected to return in the future. He is also co-host and co-executive editor of the public television series "PC World's Digital Duo," a program he helped create.
Manes was previously the Personal Computers columnist for the Science Times section of The New York Times and a regular columnist for InformationWeek. He has been on the technology beat since 1982 as a columnist and contributing editor for PC Magazine, PC/Computing, PC Sources, PCjr, and Netguide. The now defunct Marketing Computers named him one of the four most influential writers about the computer industry and called him "a strong critical voice."
From April 1995 to December 2008, he also wrote the "Full Disclosure" column, anchoring the back page of PC World.
Manes is coauthor of the best-selling and definitive biography Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry--and Made Himself the Richest Man in America. He also wrote The Complete MCI Mail Handbook and programmed much of the Starfixer and UnderGround WordStar software packages.
Manes is also the author of more than 30 books for children and young adults, including the Publishers Weekly bestseller Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday! and the award-winning Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!, which was adapted for the public television series Wonderworks. His books include the cult favorites Chicken Trek and The Obnoxious Jerks and have won a commendation from the National Science Foundation, International Reading Association Children's Choice awards, and kid-voted awards in five states. His writing credits also include television programs produced by ABC Television and KCET/Los Angeles and the 70s classic 20th Century-Fox movie Mother, Jugs & Speed.
Manes is currently serving his fourth term as an elected member of the National Council of the Authors Guild, the country's oldest organization of book authors. Born and raised in the hills of Pittsburgh, he now lives in hillier Seattle.
Manes was previously the Personal Computers columnist for the Science Times section of The New York Times and a regular columnist for InformationWeek. He has been on the technology beat since 1982 as a columnist and contributing editor for PC Magazine, PC/Computing, PC Sources, PCjr, and Netguide. The now defunct Marketing Computers named him one of the four most influential writers about the computer industry and called him "a strong critical voice."
From April 1995 to December 2008, he also wrote the "Full Disclosure" column, anchoring the back page of PC World.
Manes is coauthor of the best-selling and definitive biography Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry--and Made Himself the Richest Man in America. He also wrote The Complete MCI Mail Handbook and programmed much of the Starfixer and UnderGround WordStar software packages.
Manes is also the author of more than 30 books for children and young adults, including the Publishers Weekly bestseller Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday! and the award-winning Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!, which was adapted for the public television series Wonderworks. His books include the cult favorites Chicken Trek and The Obnoxious Jerks and have won a commendation from the National Science Foundation, International Reading Association Children's Choice awards, and kid-voted awards in five states. His writing credits also include television programs produced by ABC Television and KCET/Los Angeles and the 70s classic 20th Century-Fox movie Mother, Jugs & Speed.
Manes is currently serving his fourth term as an elected member of the National Council of the Authors Guild, the country's oldest organization of book authors. Born and raised in the hills of Pittsburgh, he now lives in hillier Seattle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 19, 2013
It started slower than I remembered, even though the skirts ARE mentioned almost immediately. I guess, not being a fourteen year old boy, I don't totally appreciate Chipirito Jalapeno Flavor Tortilla Chip salutes, and I could have stood WAY less time on Schwarzkopf's nominations for Obnoxious Jerks official products.
All that said, once it gets going, the book was every bit as good as I remembered. And I enjoyed some of the official products' responses to their new status. I especially liked the dating advice Frank had to get long distance from an old friend. Spot on.
And, although most schools are now air conditioned, and dress codes a little more tolerant, the gender issues have not changed nearly as much as we might like to think since 1988.
Fun reading.
All that said, once it gets going, the book was every bit as good as I remembered. And I enjoyed some of the official products' responses to their new status. I especially liked the dating advice Frank had to get long distance from an old friend. Spot on.
And, although most schools are now air conditioned, and dress codes a little more tolerant, the gender issues have not changed nearly as much as we might like to think since 1988.
Fun reading.
January 19, 2020
Obnoxious Jerks is an unfortunate title, but the book is surprisingly good. The title comes from a teacher calling some boys obnoxious jerks rather than admitting being in the wrong.
The boys wear the title proudly and start protesting authority--but only stupid authority like the dress code. There are too many boys to keep straight (bonus for some racial diversity), and the dialogue is totally 80s sitcom, but with genuine cleverness. Then a girl wants to be in the group. And she's great.
I recommend this one for anyone who had their own misfit group in high school and who couldn't wait to get through it.
The boys wear the title proudly and start protesting authority--but only stupid authority like the dress code. There are too many boys to keep straight (bonus for some racial diversity), and the dialogue is totally 80s sitcom, but with genuine cleverness. Then a girl wants to be in the group. And she's great.
I recommend this one for anyone who had their own misfit group in high school and who couldn't wait to get through it.
May 18, 2013
I finally got around to reading this book Kathy gave me for Christmas. It was funny and cute, if predictable. But it was the '80s so what do you really expect. I love the idea of the boys wearing skirts to protest the student dress code, though.
May 14, 2021
There's a line from this book about how, if high school turns out to be the best years of your life, you screwed up somewhere. I read that when I was in junior high, and it has guided my outlook on life ever since.
October 31, 2021
The characters are in their own created clique which they called Obnoxious Jerks. They try to protest the school’s stupid rules.
“We’re too smart to stand for stupidity. Not silly stupidity—you know, the kind of thing we do in the jerk-outs to make a point—but real absolute unintentional stupidity, which is most of what happens around this school. People call us antiauthority, but that’s not totally true. We’re not the heavy-metal crowd or the drug crowd or the get-drunk-and-puke-on-beer crowd, and in a way you could call all of them antiauthority. But they’re all stupid. What we’re against is stupid authority. Right?”
Twas okay, but I have a lot of complaints about the book:
1. It’s unrealistic that a school wouldn’t allow boys to wear shorts.
2. Too many characters that are hard to remember. They’re all alike in personality except for a couple.
3. Their appearances are not described. But I suppose we’re supposed to assume their appearance based on their names. If that’s the case, then the author tried to include diverse characters.
4. Tries too hard to be funny.
5. Amateurly written with using words like “inquired” in place of “said” or “asked.” Those fancier words distract from the dialogue.
Interesting quotes:
“Daley pointed out that if you asked twenty kids how shorts suddenly became legal according to the dress code, maybe two would remember the protest and what really happened.”
Funny how things go down the memory hole when media pretends they never happened.
“I didn’t spend much time in detention, but boy, did I ever hate it. On the other hand, it wasn’t a whole lot different from study hall. Which I hated too. Somehow a classroom is okay when there’s a teacher up there lecturing at you or you’re taking a test and you at least have something to concentrate on or concentrate against. But there’s something terrible about being stuck in a classroom with nothing to do but read one of your schoolbooks.”
I never had study hall or detention, but it sounds much better than class to me. Quiet time to work on whatever you want! I’d work on writing my novels! Kids have such little imagination after school had conditioned them. They cant function without being given orders. Sad.
“We’re too smart to stand for stupidity. Not silly stupidity—you know, the kind of thing we do in the jerk-outs to make a point—but real absolute unintentional stupidity, which is most of what happens around this school. People call us antiauthority, but that’s not totally true. We’re not the heavy-metal crowd or the drug crowd or the get-drunk-and-puke-on-beer crowd, and in a way you could call all of them antiauthority. But they’re all stupid. What we’re against is stupid authority. Right?”
Twas okay, but I have a lot of complaints about the book:
1. It’s unrealistic that a school wouldn’t allow boys to wear shorts.
2. Too many characters that are hard to remember. They’re all alike in personality except for a couple.
3. Their appearances are not described. But I suppose we’re supposed to assume their appearance based on their names. If that’s the case, then the author tried to include diverse characters.
4. Tries too hard to be funny.
5. Amateurly written with using words like “inquired” in place of “said” or “asked.” Those fancier words distract from the dialogue.
Interesting quotes:
“Daley pointed out that if you asked twenty kids how shorts suddenly became legal according to the dress code, maybe two would remember the protest and what really happened.”
Funny how things go down the memory hole when media pretends they never happened.
“I didn’t spend much time in detention, but boy, did I ever hate it. On the other hand, it wasn’t a whole lot different from study hall. Which I hated too. Somehow a classroom is okay when there’s a teacher up there lecturing at you or you’re taking a test and you at least have something to concentrate on or concentrate against. But there’s something terrible about being stuck in a classroom with nothing to do but read one of your schoolbooks.”
I never had study hall or detention, but it sounds much better than class to me. Quiet time to work on whatever you want! I’d work on writing my novels! Kids have such little imagination after school had conditioned them. They cant function without being given orders. Sad.
June 10, 2017
The Obnoxious Jerks are a group of guys protesting against the stupidity of cliques and her mentality. But they also challenge the rules of the administration, which gets them into trouble frequently. Back is the most recent addition to the group and he is still trying to figure out the rules, but he thinks Leslie Freeze might be a great new member (even though she's a girl). But Joe has a history with Leslie that no one wants to talk about. When they decide to wear skirts to protest the dress code, who else can they turn to for help?
March 6, 2021
People talk about formative books. How they're forever changed once they read Pride & Prejudice or Perks of Being a Wallflower. For me, there is probably no book that was more formative of my identity than The Obnoxious Jerks. It helped me realize the kind of person I wanted to be, and the kinds of friends I wanted to have. While some of the details of the story are permanently in '80s land, the themes are timeless.
July 16, 2017
Read this as a kid, loved it then! Not as much now
April 8, 2023
One of my favorites from my teen years. While it has some small aging issues, it holds up.
October 7, 2018
Sorta the poor man's Gordon Korman. Great title.
April 20, 2022
I loved this book when I was in jr. high. I almost didn't read it because the title was unappealing. (Why would I want to read a book about obnoxious jerks when they were everywhere in real life?) So I was surprised when I liked it so much. I was actually inspired by it if I remember correctly.
August 8, 2015
Huh. YA lit has really improved since 1988.
Characters are painted with broad brush strokes - all really good-looking girls must be dumb, all athletes must be dumb and agressive, and they all must hate each other.
However, apart from the black and white characterizations, it was kind of a fun book - especially if you like puns, which seemed to be the Obnoxious Jerks' (group of smart boys who like to pull pranks that show the school administration how arbitrary their rules are) primary mode of humor. Lots and lots of puns.
The plot is especially silly - will the Obnoxious Jerks let a girl into their club? Will wearing skirts to school show the administration that shorts should be allowed? (Yeah, remember when schools had dress codes that didn't allow shorts?!)
Do you also remember a time before the O. J. Simpson trial? Because the Obnoxious Jerks are pretty proud that their club's initials match those of a talented and popular football player . . . oh, the memories.
Anyhow, a decent way to pass the time, but I won't be searching for more books by the author. =)
Note from earlier: Read this because it showed up on a friend's facebook list of 10 books that they most remember . . . I couldn't resist the title. It's old school YA (from 1988!), and knowing my friend, I'm guessing all of the terrible puns are what made it memorable for her. More to come when I've finished.
*language, some sexual innuendo
Characters are painted with broad brush strokes - all really good-looking girls must be dumb, all athletes must be dumb and agressive, and they all must hate each other.
However, apart from the black and white characterizations, it was kind of a fun book - especially if you like puns, which seemed to be the Obnoxious Jerks' (group of smart boys who like to pull pranks that show the school administration how arbitrary their rules are) primary mode of humor. Lots and lots of puns.
The plot is especially silly - will the Obnoxious Jerks let a girl into their club? Will wearing skirts to school show the administration that shorts should be allowed? (Yeah, remember when schools had dress codes that didn't allow shorts?!)
Do you also remember a time before the O. J. Simpson trial? Because the Obnoxious Jerks are pretty proud that their club's initials match those of a talented and popular football player . . . oh, the memories.
Anyhow, a decent way to pass the time, but I won't be searching for more books by the author. =)
Note from earlier: Read this because it showed up on a friend's facebook list of 10 books that they most remember . . . I couldn't resist the title. It's old school YA (from 1988!), and knowing my friend, I'm guessing all of the terrible puns are what made it memorable for her. More to come when I've finished.
*language, some sexual innuendo
March 25, 2008
I bought this book at one of the book selling things in my small little middle school-you know, where scholastic or whatever comes in and sells all kinds of books. I've had this book forever, and 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 about a student who moves around a lot with his family, and has a hard time making a lot of friends because he (and the few friends he does make) are generally smarter than most of the administration and are smarter than almost all of their classmates. 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.
February 20, 2008
I like to think of this as a Tice kid classic, meaning it was read by more than one of the kids and just passed on down the line. I have a stack of these books in my possession. Just can't bare to give them away because of the memories they hold for me. This particular book I read only when I couldn't find anything handy to read. I had avoided it because the picture on the cover had the teenage guys wearing skirts. I suppose I was wary of it. I did, however, enjoy the book when I read it. Probably find it quite pointless now, but it was good for a few laughs then.
June 4, 2016
Read this when I was a kid, saw it at the library book sale a year or so ago, and bought it to read again since I remembered nothing about it but the cover and title.
The guys ARE obnoxious and can be jerks, but they're really just a bunch of smart, bored kids who don't really fit in anywhere else so create their own clique. Leslie was an ace character. And I actually wouldn't have minded more romance in this one.
The guys ARE obnoxious and can be jerks, but they're really just a bunch of smart, bored kids who don't really fit in anywhere else so create their own clique. Leslie was an ace character. And I actually wouldn't have minded more romance in this one.
August 1, 2013
I don't know what brought this book to mind, but I loved it when I was in junior high. It didn't matter that I wasn't a teenage boy, or that my school had air conditioning and not so strict of a dress code. It didn't even matter that I was a well-behaved student who never got in trouble for anything. This book still resonated with me. Someday, I want to track it down and read it again.
January 17, 2013
Quite funny. Slightly stupid...definitely ridiculous. But funny.
I didn't even realize it was from the eighties until I was almost done with it. You really can't tell. This book could be read by any kid, now or then or anytime in between, and still be great.
I didn't even realize it was from the eighties until I was almost done with it. You really can't tell. This book could be read by any kid, now or then or anytime in between, and still be great.
September 19, 2008
Would be cute/funny if I didn't work with kids everyday. I YA book, that I couldn't finish, although the premise is cute.
December 2, 2012
3.5 really
July 23, 2016
I loved this book as a kid and I still quote some of the lines from it. I always wanted it to be more popular so that other people would know what I was talking about.
June 21, 2022
My favorite coming of age story. Ever.
September 15, 2008
It swears a little bit but it is one of the funniest books I've eve read! :)
December 28, 2011
love this book!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews