Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational
Weblink
BarbaraDeeBooks.com

HALFWAY NORMAL

Barbara Dee

A cancer survivor must readjust to “normal” middle school life in this hopeful novel from the author of Star-Crossed and Truth or Dare.

Norah Levy has just completed two years of treatment for leukemia and is ready to go back to the "real world" of middle school. The hospital social worker warns her the transition back may be tricky, but Norah isn't worried. Compared with battling cancer, how tricky can seventh grade be?

Very. Everyone is either treating Norah like she will break at any second, or acting weird about all the attention she's getting. Her best friend, Harper, does her best to be there for Norah, but she doesn't get it, reallyand is hanging out with a new group of girls, leaving Norah feeling a little unsteady. Norah's other good friend, Silas, is avoiding her. What's that about, anyway?

When Norah is placed with the eighth graders for math and science she meets Griffin, a cute boy who encourages her love of drawing and Greek mythology. And Norah decides not to tell him her secretthat she was "that girl" who had cancer. But when something happens to make secret-keeping impossible, Norah must figure out a way to share her cancer story. But how do you explain something to others that you can't explain to yourself? And then, once you find the words, how do you move forward with a whole new 'normal'?

Barbara Dee is the author of Star-Crossed, Truth or Dare, The (Almost) Perfect Guide to Imperfect Boys, Trauma Queen, This Is Me From Now On, Solving Zoe (Bank Street Best Children's Books), and Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Barbara is one of the founders and directors of the Chappaqua Children's Book Festival. She lives in Westchester County, New York, with her family, two naughty cats, and a rescue hound dog named Ripley. Barbara blogs at FromtheMixedUpFiles.com. Read more about Barbara at BarbaraDeeBooks.com.

Available products
Book Published 2017-09-05 by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster
Book Published 2017-09-05 by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster

Comments

A powerful story about surviving and thriving after serious illness.

The authenticity of Norah's story can be credited to the author's own experiences as the mother of a cancer patient.But this is not a book about cancer; rather, it's about the process of moving forward in its wake. Readers who appreciate well-wrought portrayals of transformative middle-school experiences, such as Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger (2015) will find a story in a similar spirit here.

A powerful story not only about illness, but about accepting yourself for who you are—no matter the experiences that shaped you.

Barbara Dee has an unfailing sense of the dynamics of middle school social life. Spot-on portrayals of friends and family relationships frame a powerful main character who's determined to find her way back. Halfway Normal has a brave, kind heartas tender and triumphant as the main character herself.

...Dee realistically explores the varied emotions of maturing middle-school students, as well as the way Norah feels singled out and patronized by classmates and adults alike.

Norah Levy is entering seventh grade after being away from school for two years, during which she spent time in and out of the hospital battling leukemia. Transitioning back to the “real world” is challenging—everyone in the seventh grade knows her as “The Girl Who.” She’s tired of being treated like she’s fragile; some students are even jealous of the attention she receives. It doesn’t help that her overprotective parents won’t allow her to participate in after-school or weekend activities with her friends. As she’s making the difficult shift from patient to student, Norah also deals with the everyday challenges of middle school: cliquey friends, crushes on boys, and skipping classes. Readers will empathize with Norah as she tries to rediscover her place amongst people who were her friends. When she is placed in eighth grade math and science (she got ahead during her private tutoring), she bonds with a boy named Griffin over books, Greek myths, and her drawing ability. Norah avoids talking about her cancer at school, so Griffin doesn’t know about her past. When keeping her secret becomes impossible, Norah has to find a way to share her story. She learns is that she has been forever changed by her life experiences—but that’s okay. VERDICT A powerful story about surviving and thriving after serious illness.

In writing this remarkable novel, Barbara Dee has performed an amazing feat. She has traveled to places you hope you will never have to go and then drawn a lovely, heartbreaking, warm, funny, and ultimately hopeful map of the way back home.