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Finding Normal
When your heart is broken into a million pieces at the young age of eight, like Emma's was, it can change you. How do you begin to trust again? Emma and her mom moved to a busy new city, her plan was to blend into the background. In fact, she thought to herself, if it were at all possible, she would simply disappear. But when Reese, the most popular girl in school, inexplicably and emphatically decides to befriend her, Emma's plan is thrown out the window. At the tender age of 16, her life is turned upside down as she finds herself immersed in all of the feelings and emotions that she's hidden from all of her life. She meets Thomas, her polar opposite in personality- outgoing, confident and charmingly funny - who somehow gets her better than anyone. And then there's Reese's brother Mike and his mysterious friend, Christian. By allowing love and friendship into her life, Emma is finally living a normal life. But she soon discovers that a normal life hardly ever stays perfect for long. Can Emma survive the heartache and difficulties that a so-called normal life always comes with?
- GenresYoung Adult
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 16, 2010
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 19, 2012
I really liked this book and didn't want to put it down. Although there were editing errors, I thought it was really well written. I enjoyed getting to know Emma and watching her grow into a new season of her life. I liked many of the other characters also and at one point wasn't certain which guy I was rooting for. I thought it had a good balance of humor, love, tension & drama. I might even read it again. (and that is something rarely do!)
August 16, 2013
Maybe closer to 3.5 stars, but still, I was surprised how much I liked Finding Normal.
It's the story of sixteen year-old Emma, an artist (pencil drawing) named after a book written by her mother's favorite author (Jane Austen), moving to a new town, again, and starting a new school, again. Her birthday coincides with the first day of her sophomore year; given her mother's peripatetic nature, Emma finds it easier to blend in, to make as few friends as possible because she'll just be leaving again. Her plan is thwarted by an outgoing girl, Reese, who adopts Emma into her popular gang. It takes Emma awhile to warm up to both the kids in this clique as well as the idea of being in a clique, but she seems to.
Emma develops a crush on Reese's older brother's best friend, Christian, who has his own "mysterious" past; he'd evidently dropped out of school (should be a senior) for which he was kicked out of his parents' house, lives and hearts. He's quiet and stoic. She gets a part-time job at a local bookstore and becomes friends with the owner's grandson, Thomas. Thomas is also sixteen and a paraplegic (it seems his SCI is incomplete) and he and Emma develop a true and humorous friendship.
Emma and her mother's frequent moves work for Emma because she is also unwilling to really open herself up to the potential of deep friendship or love. The week after her eighth birthday, when her parents separated and her dad moved out, her father was killed in an automobile accident. Emma and her mom are still feeling and suffering the repercussions of that loss, so it's just easier for them to not let anyone else get too close so they won't have to feel the hurt when they leave.
The author does a terrific job with Emma -- she feels like a fully fleshed-out character, even if she's not written as such, what is written makes perfect sense and her actions / reactions feel "right." The secondary and tertiary characters all need more work, though -- there was just enough for us (reader) to say "oh yeah, I think I get their motivation but maybe ...?" She probably did the best jobs with Emma's mother, Jackie, and Thomas, her friend from the bookstore; Reese (best girlfriend) and Christian (love interest) both need more.
Even with the abundant and inexcusable errors (misspelling Austen, as in Jane Austen, for one, and Flamingo dancing for Flamenco) and the obvious need for a strong editor, it is clear the author has a real talent for storytelling and writing. Except for the time jumps (with which the editor will help), the flow was terrific and the emotions felt genuine for that time of life.
I've already marked this author so I can keep an eye out for future releases: I think she has promise.
All-in-all, it's a lovely, chaste story about ordinary teens with everyday issues, written sensitively and intriguingly.
It's the story of sixteen year-old Emma, an artist (pencil drawing) named after a book written by her mother's favorite author (Jane Austen), moving to a new town, again, and starting a new school, again. Her birthday coincides with the first day of her sophomore year; given her mother's peripatetic nature, Emma finds it easier to blend in, to make as few friends as possible because she'll just be leaving again. Her plan is thwarted by an outgoing girl, Reese, who adopts Emma into her popular gang. It takes Emma awhile to warm up to both the kids in this clique as well as the idea of being in a clique, but she seems to.
Emma develops a crush on Reese's older brother's best friend, Christian, who has his own "mysterious" past; he'd evidently dropped out of school (should be a senior) for which he was kicked out of his parents' house, lives and hearts. He's quiet and stoic. She gets a part-time job at a local bookstore and becomes friends with the owner's grandson, Thomas. Thomas is also sixteen and a paraplegic (it seems his SCI is incomplete) and he and Emma develop a true and humorous friendship.
Emma and her mother's frequent moves work for Emma because she is also unwilling to really open herself up to the potential of deep friendship or love. The week after her eighth birthday, when her parents separated and her dad moved out, her father was killed in an automobile accident. Emma and her mom are still feeling and suffering the repercussions of that loss, so it's just easier for them to not let anyone else get too close so they won't have to feel the hurt when they leave.
The author does a terrific job with Emma -- she feels like a fully fleshed-out character, even if she's not written as such, what is written makes perfect sense and her actions / reactions feel "right." The secondary and tertiary characters all need more work, though -- there was just enough for us (reader) to say "oh yeah, I think I get their motivation but maybe ...?" She probably did the best jobs with Emma's mother, Jackie, and Thomas, her friend from the bookstore; Reese (best girlfriend) and Christian (love interest) both need more.
Even with the abundant and inexcusable errors (misspelling Austen, as in Jane Austen, for one, and Flamingo dancing for Flamenco) and the obvious need for a strong editor, it is clear the author has a real talent for storytelling and writing. Except for the time jumps (with which the editor will help), the flow was terrific and the emotions felt genuine for that time of life.
I've already marked this author so I can keep an eye out for future releases: I think she has promise.
All-in-all, it's a lovely, chaste story about ordinary teens with everyday issues, written sensitively and intriguingly.
January 1, 2024
I read this because it was a freebie on amazon for my kindle but it was pretty cheesy. And I'm sure that some of the gramatical errors were because of the format on the kindle, but some may not have been and it was a little irritating. The relationships in this book were a little unreal. They were supposed to be normal, but it just...tried too hard.
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July 14, 2012It was amazing. Cecile caught my attention immediatly, with catchy phrases that made me laugh and cry. If you like romance books with humor and tradegy mixed together from the point of a 16 year old girl this is definitley your book.
April 9, 2011
I really enjoyed this book!
Read
January 12, 2012Excellent book. Sort of like the twilight bools but left you hanging
May 9, 2012
This book was okay. It was a decent storyline, but not something that I would read over just to read.
October 9, 2012
I really, enjoyed this book! I couldn't put it down.
February 5, 2016
Needs editing
The story was good but it needs editing. It also needs to be reformatted so that there are breaks between one day to the next.
The story was good but it needs editing. It also needs to be reformatted so that there are breaks between one day to the next.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews