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Nov 24, 2011

Lora rated it:

If I had to use one word to summarize Ten Miles Past Normal, it would be boring.
I'll admit it: I wanted to read this because of the cute cover and because the male protagonist is named "Monster". I happen to have a penchant for guys with unusual names, and so I thought this might be worth reading. Wrong.
I thought that maybe this would be a self-discovery story, or something of the like, but it's basically just Janie prattling on about how horrible her life has been since he More...

6 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2011

Jenn rated it:

This is definitely one of those books wherein I think it's totally not for everyone but I personally really, really like it. Maybe even kinda love, but I don't know if I'm feeling that expansive this afternoon. It reminded me a bit of "Into the Wild Nerd Yonder" - but shooting a little younger, i.e. there are no images that will make you momentarily question your affection for Krispy Kremes. It's an ideal candidate for a "clean" books list, although I cannot express my hate f More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 03, 2011

Aleeza rated it:

*3.5 stars*

Ever since I saw the summary about Ten Miles Past Normal on Goodreads—about a high school freshman whose parents actually relent to her request to relocate to a real live farm—I knew I’d totally dig it. And I totally did, peoplez.
You know those books that you begin and instantly connect with? I love it when that happens, knowing I’m about to be treated to a 200 (or however many pages there are in the book) pages of pure, rollicking fun. And I had that sort of instant More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 06, 2011

Kerri rated it:

Ten Miles Past Normal is a charming coming-of-age story. You will be drawn to the main character Janie who is quirky, and loveable. She is a city girl turned farm girl who wants desperately to fit in. Throw in some more wonderfully written characters such as Janie's best friend Sarah who wants to change the world and the musically talented Monster Monroe (yes that is his real name) who is a few years older than Janie and the size of a bear. Throw in a school project that has the girls exploring More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Kristina added it

I kept going back and forth debating with myself if I should read this book. The story didn’t seem that interesting to me, but I kept hearing some really good things about it. I finally decided to just read it!. It’s only 210 pages, so if I hated it, I wouldn’t waste that much time on it. Well, I loved it! I had it finished in a few hours. I thought it was such a great, cute, coming if age story, and I’m really glad I decided to read it!

Ten Miles Past Normal is about Janie, who, when More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 30, 2011

Mary Louise added it

When Janie Gorman was younger she wanted to live on a farm but lived in a normal suburb across the street from her best friend, Sarah. Then her dream came true and her family moved to an organic goat farm ten miles out of town, where her parents made a 180 degree turn into "hippie" type farmers with a modern edge because Jamie's mom blogs about their farming experience. But now that Jamie is a freshman in a large high school she longs for a more normal teen life complete with a boyfrie More...

0 comments like

Sep 27, 2011

Mj rated it:

Janie, a quirky vintage-clad ninth grader struggles to fit in at high school. She hides out in the library at lunch, talks only to her best friend, Sarah, and escapes home to the farm after school each day. After two months of trying to find a place to fit in at the high school, Janie meets Verbena, a new lunch friend in the library, and she meets up with Monster Monroe, a tall, red-headed sixteen- year-old guy who definitely marches to the beat of his own drum. Monster talks Janie and her be More...

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Sep 12, 2011

Sario rated it:

Ten Miles Past Normal is where Janie ends up living on a sustainable goat farm with a blogging mom, a precocious younger sister and underdeveloped (literally as his character was never developed) father. It was her idea for the family to move to the farm, but now she's struggling with adjusting to her less than normal life as she wants to blend into high school.

Along the course of her three month story arch, Janie discovers some civil rights history in town and finds herself inspired More...

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2011

Clare rated it:

A 'farm girl who just wants to be normal' coming of age story, which unfortunately doesn't get engaging until more than half way through.

It's a pity, because quite a few interesting themes are introduced, especially the Freedom School - one of the first schools to teach literacy to African American's who'd never had the chance - which Janie and Sarah write about for their school project, and Mr Pritchard and Mrs Brown who risked everything to set it up all those years ago.

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

StorySeekers rated it:

Sarah - There are some rare books that show true teenage romance with such reality. This is one of them. I loved this book. Even though it didn’t have a lot of romance, it brings me so many memories of my high school life. Janie lives on a goat farm, and has a lot of embarrassing moments because of her living situation. She doesn’t think she has potential to have a group of friends or place to sit at during lunch. She has one best friend though named Sarah, but Sarah is different than her. Sarah More...

0 comments like

Jul 24, 2011

Amanda rated it:

Also reviewed on my blog, the Vintage Bookworm. (http://www.vintagebookworm.blogspot.com)

When I first started reading this book, I kept asking myself, "Okay... where is this going?" I mean, it drew me in with its writing. Frances is a great writer. Everything flows smoothly and you read threw it pretty fast. I was able to finish it with off and on reading throughout the day. It's very short, which you will definitely notice when you pick it up. It was a kind of a weird book More...

0 comments like

Jul 13, 2011

MaryBookSwarm rated it:

I'm really liking the contemporaries that are coming out of the young adult sector these days. They're smart and funny with great characters and interesting plot lines. TEN MILES PAST NORMAL is just such a book.

Janie's parents have fallen in love with the country life, gone all-in on running a farm (albeit a little one), and, though Janie was the one who suggested it in the first place, she's now just trying to get through high school without having to wear handmade clothes or goat poo More...

0 comments like

Jun 08, 2011

Mark rated it:

"When I think about everything that's happened since school started, well, I don't think the word 'normal' applies to any of it. Verbena is right - I'm way past normal. Only I've realized that when you move beyond normal, the road you're on doesn't necessarily take you to the land of the abnormal or the weird or the freakish. Instead you might find yourself in a place where people build Freedom Schools and have the courage to live large.

It's a place where people don't worry too mu More...

0 comments like

Jun 08, 2011

Val rated it:

Ten Miles Past Normal is a great coming-of-age story for young teens. Janie is a 14 year old girl who happens to live on a farm, something not so normal for her area. She lives there because she asked her parents if they could move to a farm when she was young, and they actually agreed. Now, she has moved on to the very large high school in her area. All of her friends have different classes and a different lunch time, so she scarfs her food down at her locker then spends the rest of lunch in th More...

0 comments like

Jun 03, 2011

Barbara rated it:

Janie Gorman's move to a farm, originally sparked by her own suggestions, has resulted in a life decidedly different from the suburban lifestyle her high school classmates lead. The middle graders with whom she attended school have other classes or lunch periods, and she feels increasingly alone with her new classmates, a feeling exacerbated when she inadvertently climbs on the school bus with goat manure still on her shoe. As she tries to find a way to be normal, she encounters a cast of charac More...

0 comments like

May 31, 2011

Chioma rated it:

I have not really read many coming of age books before, but I am glad that Ten Miles Past Normal was one of my first. It definitely showed me a different side of YA books that seemed to deal with the typical issues that surround being a teenager in a different way...and on a farm.

Maybe because I am new to the whole Coming of Age genre but the beginning for me was pretty slow to get into. I know it is probably coming for coming of age stories to have a long buildup, but for me the cha More...

0 comments like

May 30, 2011

Christian rated it:

I am not generally a slice-of-life novel kind of guy. I want to be. I try to be. It's just that slice-of-life novels are completely dependent on the character and voice and writing style, and so often I can't really stand the protagonist because they irritate me. And besides, ultimately, I like a good plot.

Fortunately for me, I got to spend the holiday today with Janie, and she's delightful. It's nice to read a novel where you can enjoy the protagonist as she narrates a portion of h More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 28, 2011

Rachael rated it:

When Janie was little, she really wanted to live on a farm. And when her parents thought that was a good idea, she believed she was the luckiest girl in the world. Now older and in high school, Janie just wishes her life were normal. She wishes she didn’t have to be so careful where she steps when she milks the goats every morning and that her mom wasn’t such a local celebrity due to the blogosphere. Unfortunately, it looks like she doesn’t have much of a choice on those fronts, but that won’t s More...

0 comments like

Apr 21, 2011

Jessica at Book Sake rated it:

For a storyline with so much potential, Ten Miles Past Normal did not even live up to my modest expectations. In fact, I would only recommend this book to people with attachment issues because there’s absolutely no chance that you’ll connect with any of the characters. Dowell attempts to write a relatable account of Janie Gorman’s freshman year in high school – filled with all the fun things I typically enjoy reading about: humiliation, bass guitar, a boy named Monster. Unfortunately, Dowell has More...

0 comments like

Apr 11, 2011

TheEagerReaders rated it:

Frances O'Roark Dowell's Ten Miles Past Normal is a funny and insightful novel overflowing with charmingly quirky characters. When Janie was nine years old her class took a field trip to an organic farm. She loved it so much that she suggested to her parents that their whole family would be happier living on a farm, raising goats, and baking fresh bread. Janie had no idea that the concept would appeal to her parents so much, and she could never have predicted that five years later that perfec More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2011

Doret rated it:

I've only read two of Dowell's middle grade novels and loved both. Shooting the Moon and The Secret Language of Girls. This is the authors first YA novel. 14 yr old Janie lives on a farm, which was cool when she was younger not so much in high school. The kids on the bus call her farm girl. When Janie accidentally get on the bus with goat poop on her shoe, she has a very bad day. Janie's high school is large, Sarah the best friend, is the only friend from middle school she sees everyday. Janie s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 28, 2011

Skye rated it:

I've been lucky that we got a whole new crop of books at work. So when I saw this one, I really couldn't pass it up! There's something about this cover that's so liberating. The pastoral view, the hair in the face and the bass just really add to the organic feel of this novel.
This is the story of how Janie Gorman ruined her own life, found herself and realizes being normal is overrated. After a fourth-grade field trip to a farm, nine-year-old Janie proposes her family move to one. But once More...

0 comments like

Mar 26, 2011

Melanie added it

High school freshman Janie Gorman just wants to fit in. She doesn’t need to be most popular or rule the school, she merely hopes to feel normal. However, when Janie shows up to school with goat poop on her shoe, joins a jam band, befriends a behemoth upperclassmen named Monster and a couple elderly civil rights activists, and finds herself the subject of her mom’s farm-life blog, she can’t help but accept that she is a far cry from normal. However, Janie also discovers that once you’ve gone ten More...

0 comments like

Mar 22, 2011

Kate rated it:

I absolutely loved this book. Main character Janie is starting high school with a few strikes against her: goat poop on her school shoes, hay in her hair, a best friend who no longer lives in the neighborhood since Janie's family moved out to an organic farm, and a mother who's now blogging about farm life (Oh, how my own kids will relate to the woes of this girl with her blogging mom!) Why can't she just be normal?!

But then things get interesting, and normal starts to seem overrated. More...

0 comments like

Mar 21, 2011

Casey (The Bookish Type) rated it:

This new novel by Frances O'Roark Dowell makes me think of sunshine. Ten Miles Past Normal is a sweet and imaginative coming-of-age story that will give older readers nostalgic warm and fuzzy feelings. Janie commands center stage with her cute and quirky voice, and light-hearted yet cynical take on the tribulations of early teen life. She is an utterly adorable heroine -- I would love to have her for a little sister (or a best friend, if I was several years younger). An unusual brand of outsider More...

0 comments like

Mar 16, 2011

Novel rated it:

Confession: I have a new book crush, and the subject of my new crush is Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O’Roark Dowell. This is one of those quintessential stories about growing up, embracing the high school experience and learning to rock what you’ve got. And Dowell delivers it all in perfect form.

What makes Ten Miles Past Normal so appealing is that it’s a universal story told in a unique way. We’ve all been the high school freshman, struggling to fit in and be “normal.” But as th More...

0 comments like

Mar 05, 2011

cecilia rated it:

Ten Miles Past Normal is one of those books where I got really sad when the last page came and had to leave all these interesting characters behind! This is definitely a book for anyone who went through high school feeling out of place but - hopefully, eventually, unexpectedly, happily - found a niche to call their own.

Janie was such an excellent character! She was funny, easy to relate with, creative, level-headed, endearing, and when she finally found her groove in high school, More...

0 comments like

Feb 20, 2011

Jackie rated it:

Okay, so it might have been Janie's suggestion that her family move to a farm, but there is a lot of differences between what a 9 year old thinks is cool and what a 14 year old freshman in high school thinks. She's tired of being called "Skunk Girl" just because of some goat poop on her shoe one morning on the bus. She's tired of hiding out in the library because the lunch room is just too embarrassing--she doesn't have the same lunch period as any of her old friends, and barely any More...

0 comments like

Nov 23, 2010

Abby rated it:

Goat poop. This is the only reason people know who Janie is at her high school: she's the girl who stepped in goat poop and stank up the whole school bus. And it's entirely her own fault because she's the one who suggested that the family move to a farm in the first place (she was only nine! Who takes a nine-year-old seriously?!). Janie didn't think that's how high school would be. She pictured herself surrounded by a group of close friends, laughing and flirting with cute boys, running fo More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 12, 2011

Phoebe rated it:

I was initially quite charmed by 10 Miles Past Normal, a March release from established middle grade author Frances O'Roark Dowell. It promised to be something like Peachtree's upcoming This Girl Is Different--a story about a new-comer to high school trying to find her way despite the weirdness of her family—but I'd hoped it would be a little more grounded in a familiar reality.

And in some ways, it was. 10 Miles Past Normal tells the story of Janie Gorman, a fourteen year old who liv More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

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