Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Connor, L.  (2008).  Waiting for Normal.  New York:  HarperCollinsPublishers.  290 pages

All Addie wants is to have a sense of normal:  a life with Mommers, Dwight (her stepfather) her Littles, Brynna and Katie (Dwight's daughters), and be a family.  She wants everything to be normal, but how can living in a trailor with Mommers and her all-or-nothing attitude add up to normal?  Will Addie get what she wants and deserves?

When Dwight took 12-year-old Addie and Mommers to the trailor that would be their home, in Schenectady, New York, Addie knew that she would have to make the best of her situation.  She vowed she would remain positive even if Mommers wouldn't.  Mommers was really upset about where they would be staying, but Addie wanted to be positive so the Mommers wouldn't be in a bad mood.  Dwight promised to call and visit often so that Addie can see her little sisters, Brynna and Katie (the Littles) and even take her up to stay with them once in a while.  This gave Addie something to look forward to, but in the meantime, she spent her time at the convenience store/gas station across the way from her trailor and became friends with Soul, who had cancer, and Elliot, the owner.  She felt very welcomed by them even though she knew Mommers didn't really like the idea of Addie going there so often.  They made her feel safe and wanted, especially when Mommers was away from home, which happened quite often.  Dwight kept his promise to call and take her to visit the Littles and him, and she enjoyed her time with them, and even liked Hannah, Dwight's girlfriend, but there's something about the visits that made her feel sad and out of place to the point where she didn't want to visit anymore.  Dwight sensed her distance, and Addie felt bad about making him feel bad, but she just couldn't help it.  One day Addie turned on the stove to make hot chocolate for herself but accidentally turned on the burner that had oil from dinner from the night before.  Suddenly the trailor is on fire and Grandio, her grandpa came to take her to his house, and Mrs. Casey, a social worker, is handing her a bag with some clothes.  For the time being, she stayed with Grandio until everything got straightened.  Then she learned that Dwight was working on getting the necessary paperwork so that he could adopt Addie and she could stay with him, the Littles, and Hannah.  She finally felt that she had a family, belonged somewhere, and everything was going to be normal.

I really liked this book because of Addie's attitude toward the hand that she was dealt.  She always remained positive and wanted to do what was best for everyone without herself being selfish.  In a way, she was protecting Mommers when Mommers should have been protecting her.  I totally sympathized with Addie and wanted her to get what she deserved and wanted:  a family, safety, love, normalcy.  It seems as though she grew up before she really had to and didn't have much time to be a child and preteen.  She is just "waiting for normal", which to her is having consistency, a daily routine, a set pattern, which she does not have with Mommers but notices that her Littles have it when she visits them and Dwight.  Even though she got what she wanted and what she deserved, how she got that was sad, but it all turned out well and for the best.

Leslie Connor grew up in Schenectady, New York.  She got the inspiration for this book from a lot on a corner that was similar to the one where Addie lived with Mommers.  Connor is also the author of Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel, an award-winning picture book, Dead on Town Line, and Crunch.  Waiting for Normal won honor for the Schneider Family Book Award.  It was also nominated for Connecticut's Nutmeg Book Award, named one of School Library Journal's Best Books, and ALA Notable Children's Book, and ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults, is on Texas Lone Star Reading List, a Cooperative Children's Center Book Choice, and won the 2009 Connecticut Book Award.  To learn more about Leslie Connor and other books she has written, visit her website at http://www.leslieconnor.com/.