Not Exactly Normal - Hardcover

Brown, Devin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802852831 ISBN 13: 9780802852830

Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co, 2005

Synopsis

A sixth-grader at St. Luke's Episcopal School in rural New England sets out to have a mystical experience and learns valuable lessons about himself and the world along the way.

About this title

About the Author

Devin Brown, a professor of literature at Asbury College, lives with his family in Lexington, Kentucky. Not Exactly Normal combines several of his own major interests: philosophy, sports, history, religion, and literature. He says that the most fun aspect of writing this book was developing the unusual superheroes that Davis Farrel creates for his art project. This is his first published novel.

From the Inside Flap

He was always so normal!

Todd Farrel attends tiny St. Luke's Episcopal School in rural New England. Each year the sixth graders finish winter term with their big social studies reports. Wanting to make his report something special this year, Todd finally decides to write about mystical experiences something definitely not normal. After doing some research, Todd determines that he needs to have his own mystical experience.

While practicing soccer with his best friend, Nitro, listening to an unusual teacher who encourages original thinking, and giving in to his curiosity about Leda, the intelligent but unusual (in Todd's opinion) girl from California, Todd discovers some pretty extraordinary aspects to life in his ordinary world.

Not Exactly Normal is a book about being different and about fitting in, about accepting the differences of others and seeing ways that everyone is alike. It will challenge readers' assumptions and help them look at the world and their lives in new ways.

Reviews

Grade 5-8–Todd Farrel attends a small Episcopal school in New England. Each year, the sixth graders must write a social-studies term paper. After hearing about a classmate's mystical experiences, Todd decides to explore the topic for his project. Following extensive research at the library, he discovers that historical figures, including Joan of Arc and St. Francis, were driven to greatness by mystical revelations. In order to verify his report, he is convinced that he must experience his own epiphany. This is achieved during a near-death experience when he saves his best friend from drowning. Todd learns to accept and appreciate friends who are like him and those who are different. The final chapters are more compelling and exciting than the first part of the book, especially the near drowning in an icy pond, but readers must suspend disbelief to buy into the almost perfect outcome of the incident. Overall, this is a mildly interesting but didactic story.–Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH
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Gr. 5-8. Religion comes into children's fiction more often than it used to, but usually not in the quiet, foundation-building way it does here. Sixth-grader Todd Farrel attends St. Luke's Episcopal School in western Massachusetts, where his young teacher, Mr. Phillips, encourages thinking. For instance, what does John Donne mean by no man being an island, and for whom does the bell toll? For middle-grade fiction, this is a cerebral book, yet it's told in the voice of a totally normal boy. Todd thinks about God, prayer, and mystical experiences, right alongside superheroes, girls, and sibling relationships. In fact, most of what happens here happens in Todd's head--until the very end, when Todd saves his best friend from drowning. This comes at a point where the reader's interest might be flagging, and though it hardly seems reasonable that the boys don't end up in the hospital, the dramatic incident serves to tie together the spiritual elements Todd has been contemplating. A quiet, meaningful first novel. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Like I usually did before falling asleep, I looked out the window next to my bed.

Down below, the street was empty, and the streetlights cast a soft glow on the snow-covered sidewalk. The wind had blown the night sky clear, and the winter stars twinkled in the vast openness. High above I could hear the eerie rush of the wind. Suddenly I was filled with a feeling that I couldn't name.

Sort of an ache for something, but for what I didn't know. It felt like a shiver, but one you didn't want to end.

And all at once I came up with an idea.

Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802852831
• ISBN 13: 9780802852830
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 234