Friday, June 17, 2011

Beyond Normal

Some girls long for popularity. All Janie wants is normalcy. Unfortunately, she is anything but. She lives on a goat farm with her modern hippie parents, wears clothes she (very creatively) alters, and idolizes her best friend's funky older sister. Throughout the first few chapters, Janie spends lunch periods hiding in the library, lamenting her inability to achieve the coveted status of Normal. But soon life begins to eclipse Janie's obsession. She makes some awesome new friends, starts playing bass guitar for her school's (previously) all-guy Jam Band, and becomes deeply interested with her elderly neighbor's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Soon, Janie forgets about trying to be normal and begins to let her true self shine through. And that true self is NOT normal. It's something even better! Ten Miles Past Normal is a fantastic and fun coming-of-age story about learning how to be yourself. Janie's character is likable and relatable. And, while not everyone has accidently gone to school with goat poop stuck to their shoe, most of us have had that feeling of not knowing how to fit in. Reminicent of Dairy Queen and How Not To Be Popular. Check out other books by Frances Dowell. --AJL

No comments:

Post a Comment