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A Different Kind Of Normal (2012)

by Cathy Lamb(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0758259395 (ISBN13: 9780758259394)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Kensington

review 1: I enjoyed this book. The author did take on a lot though and so it takes a while to really catch you. The many themes are distracting in the beginning, drug addiction, witches, single parents, teenage angst, helicopter parenting, dysfunctional family .... It is hard to develop a plot when you take on all that. Strangely though the plot does develop, and adds more social woes to contemplate. Through it all though, you see these issues through family life and individual experiences/consequences. Except for possibly in bullying, nothing comes across as preachee. Not an easy task.
review 2: Cathy Lamb is an author whose books draw me in - she writes very vividly about people who undergo incredibly difficult family circumstances and lives. Yet, despite the horrific ... morecircumstances her characters often undergo in her books, she writes beautifully about how her characters persist in the face of what often seems to be overwhelming odds.This book focuses on the special relationship that Jaden Bruxelle has with her nephew, Tate who was born to her sister Brooke, with a head that was too large, and eyes that were not in line with each other. Brooke abandons Tate after she gives birth to him, because she is hooked on drugs and can't face having a son whose looks are far from "normal". Jaden chooses to raise Tate, with her mom Rowan and grandmom Violet's support. Interwoven into this story is the family history that Jaden doesn't take seriously - that they are descended from a couple of witches, Grace and Faith. And this story is the journey of Jaden and Tate, their conflict over Tate's wish to be normal and play basketball. Jaden refuses, because Tate has a shunt in his head which could become dislodged if his head is injured. Both Jaden and Tate grow together, as they argue and he tests her boundaries. Jaden has to learn to let go of her deep fears for Tate, and accept his strong wishes to be on his high school's basketball team. Tate has a very smart, funny and kind personality, as revealed by the blog he writes, named the Pigskin blog, with names for parts of his body - his head is "General Noggin", one eye is Roadrunner, the other is Micky Mouse... and he too learns to develop some confidence in himsself, and makes lots of friends as he tries out for the basketball team and succeeds. The supporting characters in this story, as in all of Cathy's books are really well written, from Jaden's TV soap opera mon, to her buff brother Caden, to his children. And woven into this already rich complex story is Jaden's work as an excellent hospice hurse, and the many people whose lives she touches. All of Cathy Lamb's books are not ones that I find I read quickly - her stories are so multilayered with characters who endure some unbelievable circumstances, especially abuse, but they are survivors whom I root for. less

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