Characters as persuasively optimistic as Addie are rare, and readers will gravitate to her. Addie works hard to fill the void her volatile mother creates, and Addie's attempts to make things 'normal' result in some of the most moving scenes: she keeps the cabinets full by putting empty boxes of food on the shelf 'for show.' In such moments Connor shows both the extent to which Addie has been abandoned and just how resilient and resourceful she is. The story centers on twelve-year-old Addison Addie Schmeeter. While her mother disappears for days at a time with her new boyfriend, Addie cultivates friendships with people she meets at a neighboring convenience store, but the affection she receives from others doesn't compensate for the absence of love in her home. Leslie Connor’s Waiting for Normal, published by Harper Collins imprint Katherine Tegen Books in 2008, is a young adult novel. But after he and her mother divorce, and he gets custody of Addie's two younger half-sisters, it's up to Addie, a sixth-grader, to keep order in the tiny trailer that Dwight has found for Addie and her mother. Addie's stepfather, Dwight, has always been the responsible one in the family.

Though it wouldn't seem likely for Addie's mother to get a happy ending, the story closes on a hopeful note, with Addie eventually being adopted by her stepfather and taken back to live with her half-sisters in the lovely country home they've created with the stepdad's fiancee, and the mother receiving 'parenting lessons' from the state (she's pregnant again, and apparently the father-to-be is willing to stick with her despite being lied to, etc.).ĭuring the story Addie reaches several epiphanies, coming to terms with her dyslexia, her notion of heroism (Soula, who in the end had to call social services, takes a big role here) and normalcy (which Addie defines as having enough stability in her home so that she doesn't have to wonder if her mother will be around this week or whether she'll have enough food left in the cupboards to feed herself).Connor (Dead on Town Line) treats the subject of child neglect with honesty and grace in this poignant story. Leslie Connor Family Life 2008 Save Rate book Parents say age 11+ Based on 3 reviews Kids say age 11+ Based on 18 reviews Read or buy Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Addie makes friends quickly with the kids at school as well as with her neighbors at the the gas station/convenience store across the street-Soula, a woman fighting a losing battle with cancer, and Elliot, the man that helps Soula manage the store (and also happens to be gay). Waiting for Normal Book review by Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Common Sense says age 9+ Moving portrait of a neglected child. A moving story about 12-year-old Addie's attempts to make the best of her new living situation as she and her dysfunctional mom (she reminds me a lot of the mother in Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle) move into a trailer following a divorce. Children's fiction / realistic fiction ages 10-14.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor