Halfway Normal

August 21, 2017
Dee (Star-Crossed) traces the trials of a pediatric cancer patient who returns to middle school after a two-year absence. Norah Levy, a seventh grader, has recently completed treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is allowed to resume her “normal” life. Norah excelled with her tutor and fellow cancer survivor, Ayesha, so she’s invited to take eighth grade math and science. New student Griffin seems interested in Norah; she’d like for him to notice her Greek mythology knowledge or drawing talents, and not as “Cancer Girl.” But Norah’s parents are nervous about her overdoing it, so they create rules meant to help her rest and continue progressing—rules that inhibit her social life. Meanwhile, Norah’s seventh-grade friends have mixed (and occasionally negative) reactions to her return to their suburban New York City school. Griffin is a bit too perceptive, Norah’s best friend Harper unfailingly patient, and Norah herself jarringly hypercritical, even if her resentments are understandable. Still, Dee realistically explores the varied emotions of maturing middle-school students, as well as the way Norah feels singled out and patronized by classmates and adults alike. Ages 9–13. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

July 1, 2020

Gr 4-7-The print version of Halfway Normal was published in 2017 and is as relevant now as it was then. Norah has been successfully fighting leukemia and is poised to join her seventh grade classmates at school after a two-year absence. Middle school can be tough in the best of circumstances, and Norah finds her adjustment rougher than anticipated. She rages against her divorced parents' rules, finds established friendships shifting, falls for a new student, and experiences the requisite middle school insecurities and drama. She just wants to be treated normally and hates being faced with acknowledgment of her illness and her limitations. As Norah comes to terms with her life-changing cancer experience, the novel ends on a hopeful note of self-acceptance. Kim Mai Guest narrates in a very youthful voice in the first person, expressively revealing Norah's thoughts and feelings of angst. VERDICT Guest's engaging treatment of what could have been a grim subject makes this a perfect choice for middle grade listeners and middle school libraries.-Julie Paladino, formerly with East Chapel Hill H.S., NC

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