Perfectly voiced! Frances O’Roark Dowell nails it in her young adult novel Ten Miles Past Normal. Janie Gorman is an authentic character and hilarious to boot. By the end of page one, the reader is hooked–here is a girl with some pretty difficult social handicaps (For instance, goats don’t produce sweet smells.) who is bravely trying enter the high school social scene and achieve some kind of normal. Good luck with that! The plot is light and really just a framework for first-rate writing, dialogue, and characters; I truly loved them all–Janie, Monster, Sarah, Verbena, and even Loretta Lynn the goat. Anyone, young adult or adult, who has gone to high school, will find a kindred spirit in Janie Gorman and her “problems”. Ten Miles Past Normal is an abundantly refreshing entry into the young adult demographic. Read it and pass it on!
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: None
Violence/Gore: Report of violence years ago during civil rights movement.
Sex/Nudity: A character kisses another character; reference to period; reference to boys liking mammary glands; characters like/have “crushes” on other characters.
Mature Subject Matter:
High School Social Issues
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Some characters are referred to as “stoners”. There is a passing comment referring to “joints”. A high school student says he has a beer in his backpack and offers it to another student (who declines).
