Normal

by Charise Jewell

Have you ever had a big problem? These kids have big problems. Sam's mom was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Sam feels helpless and overwhelmed. Oliver's grandmother died two months ago. She was his best friend and the only person who understood his anxiety. Margaret is a dancer with an eating disorder. Her dad left when she was a baby-it still hurts. Joel sees strange things he can't explain. Some people think he has a mental illness but he's not convinced. Sam, Oliver, Margaret, and Joel just want to feel loved and accepted. They just want to feel Normal. But the more time passes, the more their problems are ruining their lives. Will they always feel this lonely and confused?

245 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2023

About the author

A voracious reader and aspiring writer since childhood, Charise Jewell was born in South Africa and immigrated to Canada when she was seven years old. She holds an Honours B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from McGill University, and worked as a robotics engineer for fifteen years before becoming a writer. Charise is the author of Crazy, Memoir of a Mom Gone Mad and Normal. She proudly lives with bipolar disorder and educates for the fair and dignified treatment of the mentally ill.

Reviews

[Jacqueline Aubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normal by Charise Jewel thoughtfully explores personal and family challenges through the eyes of a group of middle schoolers.

Sam, Margaret, Joel, and Oliver are touched (either directly or through someone they love) by disordered eating, bipolar disorder, anxiety, abandonment, grief, and perhaps even superpowers. Feeling alone as they are confronted by ongoing difficulties, this group of dynamic friends is faced with learning to trust others and accept help in order to ease their burdens.

The book dispels the myth of what it is to be ‘normal’ and instead embraces differences while demonstrating compassion and openness through inclusion.

Normal effectively normalizes therapy, journaling, and sharing struggles as a path to wellness and understanding. It also addresses the type of language we use to reference mental health, and how to be more mindful and sensitive with our word choices.

Storytelling offers a wonderful opportunity to explore difficult topics, develop empathy and understanding, and even educate; Normal by Charise Jewel delivers on all of this. With its highly likable characters, reading this novel with others would be an enjoyable way to open the conversation about mental health between middle school children and their parents, extended family, and educators.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[MN · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautifully written story. Told from the perspectives of four middle school-aged children, Normal sheds light on how mental illness (both lived and witnessed) might be experienced and processed by preteens. We are treated to some insight into the minds of a generation of children who are starting to demonstrate a greater comfort level speaking openly about mental health than the ones that came before it. Sam, Oliver, Margaret, and Joel are inclusive, empathetic, and relatable characters who tackle the mental health challenges surrounding them with maturity, curiosity, and kindness. In a winning effort to normalize the conversation around mental health, Jewell helps to move the destigmatization of mental illness ahead by leaps and bounds. Normal should be in every middle school classroom and library.

[Krissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish that this book had been around when I was a kid, but I’m so happy that it’s available for kids now to read. In Normal, Charise Jewell quite literally normalizes life with a mental illness. Told through the stories of 4 characters, we learn about how mental illness impacts their life and their families’ lives, as well as how they overcome it. The characters are lovable and relatable, and the story is told in a way that kids can understand but is also beneficial to adults. I’m so glad that talking about our struggles is becoming more normalized, and this book would be a fantastic addition to any middle or high school library.

[Moyra Irving · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normal, by Charise Jewell.

This is one of the finest YA novels I’ve read since ‘The Swallows Flight’ by Hillary McKay.

‘Normal’ gives an intimate, up close view of a group of young friends, and their families, each one with a special quirk, if I may call it that.
Conditions such as anxiety, bipolar, eating disorders, and grief are explored – and even ‘superpowers’ in the case of a character called Joel. Just marvellous!

How I wish this beautiful novel had been available when I was young. It might well have saved me years of loneliness and confusion. (I literally shed tears for Oliver in the Maths test, remembering how daunting those things were myself.)

With utmost compassion, Charise Jewell exposes and celebrates many fascinating human diversities that somehow make us all ‘Normal.’
She also models positive responses, notably empathy, through her characters, and always without reverting to preaching.

I love how the author has incorporated a few excellent practical exercises into the narrative in a completely natural way. Things like breath control and writing down our thoughts to gain understanding and clarity.

There are some charming historical details included along the way (the life of mathematician Ada Lovelace and her father Lord Byron, even with a little nod to the poet’s sexual orientation).

The language has an authentic MG/Young Adult feel but it’s great to see more sophisticated vocabulary included at times too (euphemism comes to mind.)

I won’t disclose too much about the plot or spoil the ending, apart from to say it ends perfectly with the words ‘I’m good.’
What better way to bring this delightful novel to a close?