A Blind Guide to Normal

When Ryder graduates from the Addison School for the Blind, he and Artie--his artificial eye, courtesy of cancer--look forward to being normal, whatever that is. Wisecracking, white Ryder is forced to stay with his eccentric, equally sarcastic grandfather when his parents, both avid research biologists, accept new assignments. His arrival at Papuaville Middle School is a shock--to the teacher he causes to faint and the semibully he inadvertently provokes. Fortunately, crushing on white, tough-but-wounded Jocelyn and wielding his increasingly desperate sense of humor help him to withstand bullies, distant parents, and cringeworthy good intentions. Karate classes provide an outlet, humor, and further character development, and a surprise quilting class provides surprising insight. Readers may groan at Ryder's jokes, but the pranks he pulls with his narration are great fun, calling out "very special episode" cliches and blindness stereotypes. But the "relentless positivity" trope is dismantled with care as Ryder interacts with equally vulnerable characters and sees his clowning for the defense mechanism it often is--and acknowledges the anger it's masking. Like Alice of the preceding A Blind Guide to Stinkville (2015), Ryder and his family and friends all experience disorientation--this time from the shock of moving forward as well as away--and learn how to grieve in their own ways. As Ryder might say, Vrabel has an eye for sympathetic, offbeat characters--and a knack for feel-good resolutions. (Fiction. 9-12) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Richie Ryder Randolf is used to being a big fish in a small pond. At the Addison School for the Blind, he's hilarious, he's smooth, and he's popular enough to serve as a social mentor for others. Relocated to a middle school in suburban Washington, DC, for eighth grade while his scientist parents go on assignment, he's flopping on the shore and gasping for air. Between navigating the challenges of his limited vision (he wears an artificial eye owing to complications from cancer) and being a social disaster, Ryder is seriously struggling-and he's not the only one. His grandfather, who's supposed to be taking care of Ryder while the boy's parents are away, talks to his decades-dead wife, lives as if he's still in the 1970s, and insists on calling the protagonist by his full name, Richie Ryder. Ryder's parents are immersed in work to the point of benign neglect. In this sequel to A Blind Guide to Stinkville, Vrabel injects just the right goofy mix of hormones and pain into Ryder's mounting rages, fervent emotional deflection techniques, and confusing romantic ups and downs and gives equal weight to the foibles and dramas of those around him. As any reader of middle grade fiction might expect, the title is a red herring-nobody's normal, and everybody's just trying their best. VERDICT A sweet, thoughtful, and funny read. Hand this to fans of Vrabel's previous novels and those who enjoy a heartfelt tale without the typical saccharine coating.-Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library

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