Far From Normal

by Becky Wallace

Overview

From Stealing Home author Becky Wallace comes a Devil Wears Prada-inspired YA romance, in which “normal girl” Maddie must repair the image of Major League Soccer’s bad boy to ace her internship. A perfect read for fans of Morgan Matson and Miranda Kenneally.

Maddie McPherson is sick of Normal—both her hometown of Normal, Illinois and being the ‘normal’ sibling. But when she lands a summer internship with a sports marketing firm, she finally has a chance to crawl out of her genius brother’s shadow. Not to mention, a glowing letter of recommendation could secure her admission to her dream college.

But Maddie’s nickname is “CalaMaddie” for a reason, and when the company tasks her with repairing the image of teen soccer phenom Gabriel Fortunato, she wonders if she’s set herself up for embarrassment. Gabriel is a tabloid magnet, who’s best-known for flubbing Italy’s World Cup hopes. As Maddie works with him to develop “pleasant and friendly” content for social media, she also learns he’s thoughtful, multi-talented, and fiercely loyal—maybe even to a fault. Falling for a footballer is exactly how CalaMaddie would botch this internship, but with the firm pressuring her to get the job done, perhaps her heart is worth risking?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645670568
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	702,803
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Becky Wallace is the award-winning author of Stealing Home (Page Street), The Storyspinner, and The Skylighter (S&S/ McElderry). She’s a sucker for slow-burn romances, near-miss kisses, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Becky worked for a minor-league baseball team, edited a sports marketing magazine, and toured internationally as a ballroom dancer before settling down in Houston, Texas, with her husband, four children, and one very fluffy puppy. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @BeckyWallace1

Editorial Reviews

04/10/2020

Gr 10 Up—A story of firsts—Maddie's first real job responsibility, the first weekend home alone, and her first love. In the process, readers see Maddie transition from an ordinary high school student from Normal, IL, to a mature adult in the big city of Chicago. Maddie enjoys many freedoms exploring the city under the relaxed watch of her Aunt Emma, who is also responsible for the glamorous summer internship she lands at Velocity Marketing. There, along with the staff of other young interns who are also trying to map out their futures, Maddie has the job of cleaning up the bad-boy reputation of a young, hot, Italian soccer star, Gabriel Fortunado. It requires Maddie to use social media and get acquainted with the world of personal branding and marketing, but also competition and workplace jealousy; Aunt Emma is the company's founder, and Maddie has to prove that she is worthy of the internship. VERDICT Whether this is shelved with New Adult novels or older YAs, this is a fun, lively story about a girl and her clumsy but eventual rise to potential success and love.—Christina Pesiri, Michael F. Stokes Elementary School Library, Island Trees-Levittown, NY

School Library Journal

2020-06-30
An embarrassing run-in with a soccer star starts off Maddie’s summer on the wrong foot.

Seventeen-year-old Maddie McPherson has gotten the nickname CalaMaddie since things tend to go wrong when she’s around. She hopes to change the odds this summer when her aunt gets her an internship at a Chicago marketing agency—and if all goes well, a good recommendation will help her get into her dream college. The internship consists of coffee runs and answering phones, until she’s unexpectedly assigned to a big project to improve the reputation of 19-year-old hard-partying Italian soccer star Gabe Fortunato. This doesn’t make her popular with the other interns, but Maddie’s determined to prove herself. She needs Gabe to open up so that she can create original, likable social media content, and of course once he does, she can’t help falling for him. But is he interested in her too, or is it all an act? With insecurities of never being good enough, both ordinary Maddie and famous Gabe feel realistic and engaging. When photos of Maddie and Gabe together make the rounds and trolls attack her appearance, the book presents an important indictment of women taking down other women. Mishaps abound and keep the pacing tight in this utterly charming tale. All main characters are presumably White.

A satisfying romance that will please Sarah Dessen fans. (Romance. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews