Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O’Roark Dowell
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Aug.31, 2014, under Real life, Sam's Reviews
Who would like this book? Mostly girls, 6th grade and up, who are interested in a story told in the first person by a fun, sarcastic freshman in high school who is looking to find her place to belong.
The goods on this book: Janie Gorman has a problem of her own making. When she was nine, she convinced her parents to move to the country and start a farm. Five years later, the idea has lost its romance and she is tired of being bullied as the girl with goat poop on her shoes. Nothing is going her way as she starts a new year at school, and the reader is in for some fun times guessing how things will turn around for her. Some old and new friends pull her into new pursuits that make all the difference. There are some interesting minor characters, such as her older sister Emma, who is obsessed with social justice. It’s refreshing to find a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Janie’s voice is funny, engaging, and honest. I felt like I knew her after reading just a few pages, and then I was hooked and needed to know the rest of her story.
This book is an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012 nominee.
The details: 211 pages; 2011 Review by Samrarian
