Everyone is either treating Norah like she will break at any second, or acting weird about all the attention she’s getting. Compared with battling cancer, how tricky can seventh grade be? The hospital social worker warns her the transition back may be tricky, but Norah isn’t worried.
Halfway Normal by Barbara Dee (2017) - Norah Levy has just completed two years of treatment for leukemia and is ready to go back to the “real world” of middle school. Different is where the good stuff happens. Interspersed with hand-drawn comics, Harrell has found a way to perfectly balance an important discussion about how being diagnosed with a serious illness affects your relationships and day to day life, and packages it in a story laced with humor and relatability so that kids in middle school can understand and see themselves reflected in the characters.
Personal Insights: For such a serious topic, this book has a delightful sense of humor that comes through the story to undercut and soothe the brutal reality of cancer. Told in the first person, this lively novel showcases the author’s understanding of middle school angst amid the protagonist’s experience with a serious illness.” – Publishers Weekly, 2020 Ross never takes himself too seriously, and amusing black-and-white comics trace his unsavory experiences, capture the ironies of his predicament, and underline his creativity and sense of humor. “Harrell, himself a cancer survivor, offers a frank account of cancer’s effects while keeping the subject matter accessible for middle grade readers. Highly recommended.” – Lisa Gieskes, School Library Journal 2020
There are witty comic panels and other art interspersed throughout the text. Readers will be interested to know that Harrell draws from his personal experience. “This title is delightfully good and different. As Ross continues with his treatments, he learns some valuable lessons and tools from some unexpected sources to help him cope with all that life is throwing at him. Granted, his mandatory brimmed hat and eye patch don’t exactly help him to blend in, but why can’t everyone see that he is still the same Ross he has always been? He must figure out a way to deal with his rising anger and grief, not only from the fact that he might very well go blind, but with anonymous internet trolls, changing friendships, and all the landmines that come from middle school. Even his best friends have started treating him differently. Ever since he started some pretty intense treatments for his rare eye cancer, no one seems to be able to know how to interact with him: not his classmates and not his teachers. Summary: Seventh-grader Ross Maloy wants nothing more than to be able to go back to being a “normal” kid. Topics/Themes: Dealing with illness, overcoming bullies/trolls, the power of friendship
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Autobiographical Fiction, Middle Grade Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers (March 31, 2020)
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