Something Like Normal

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This item will be available on June 19, 2012.

Overview

When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.

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More About This Book

Overview

When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.

Editorial Reviews

VOYA
Nineteen-year-old Travis, USMC, is home on leave after a year-long tour in Afghanistan where he saw his best friend, Charlie, killed in action. Home is not so great either: Dad is cheating on Mom and his younger brother has hooked up with Travis's ex-girlfriend. Travis is haunted by Charlie's death and so wracked with guilt, he sees Charlie and talks to him. Sleep is no escape as he has recurring nightmares about Afghanistan and wakes in a sweat after only a few hours of sleep. The only time anything resembles normal is when he is with Harper—the girl whose reputation he casually trashed in middle school. Their tentative steps toward a relationship may be the lifeline Travis needs. This is a compelling look at the aftermath of a tour of duty in a war zone. The nervous awkwardness his family feels around him makes sense—he left them as a high school graduate and returns as a war-hardened Marine. While the relationship between him and Harper is meant to be the story's focus, it is Travis's relationship with his mom that gives depth to his character. His annoyance at her nervous chatter as they leave the airport evolves into real appreciation for her vigilance during his tour of duty and seething anger at his father for his disrespectful treatment of his mom. Harper, on the other hand, seems too good to be true, always saying and doing just the right thing. The story does not have the depth of Reinhardt's The Things a Brother Knows (Random House, 2010/VOYA October 2010), but still has a place in a YA collection. Reviewer: Debbie Wenk
Kirkus Reviews
An affecting look at the experience of one teen soldier's experience on leave from Afghanistan. Travis is trying hard to pretend everything is normal, but there's nothing normal about this little chunk of life at his former home in Florida. His girlfriend is now sleeping with his little brother, a smug, self-interested bastard. His friends don't understand why he can't just slide back into his stupid pre-Afghanistan life. His mother worries nonstop. The only thing that's normal is that his father, an ex–football player who bullied Travis mercilessly into playing the game, still seems to hate his guts. At least when he was with his unit, they all understood how their shared hellish experience has affected them. An unlikely encounter with Harper, a girl he humiliated in middle school, gives him a sense that, maybe, a normal life might be something he can shoot for. Travis' present-tense narration puts readers directly into his uneasy psyche; he only gradually reveals to himself as well as readers the extent of the damage he has taken in the desert. If the growing relationship between Travis and Harper seems too good to last and the sudden stiffening of his mother's spine unlikely, readers will be so invested in Travis' poor, shattered soul they will forgive narrative convenience. At its heart, this too-timely novel is purely honest. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781599908441
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
  • Publication date: 6/19/2012
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 224
  • Sales rank: 258,155
  • Age range: 14 - 18 Years
  • Product dimensions: 5.32 (w) x 8.13 (h) x 0.87 (d)

Meet the Author

TRISH DOLLER has worked as a newspaper reporter and radio personality and is now a bookseller. She lives in Ft Myers, Florida with her husband, two dogs, and two mostly grown children. Also, Trish has about a dozen Marines she'd like to adopt.

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