Middle school is hard enough, but how do you adjust when they've missed two years due to an awful illness. Norah Levy will tell you. She just completed treatment for leukemia and is ready to start a "normal" life as she heads into seventh grade. However, no one can quite define her normal. She has parents who are overprotective, but for different, understandable reasons. She has friends, but the relationships feel strained. She hates getting pity or having certain treatments just because of her illness. And please, just call it cancer - don't tiptoe around the subject! She has to deal with people making fun of or mistaking her identity based on her new appearance. Plus how can she possibly explain to a new, cute student about her experience when she just wants to move on. It was easy to get lost in her struggles and sympathize with the challenges that she was facing. There are many books that focus on sick children, but I love that this one told the other half of the story. How hard it is to step back into your old life and pick up on relationships and experiences that were halted once your world was flipped upside down. I love Norah. She has a great voice and I definitely felt her many frustrations. I absolutely love her doodling and all of the mythology that was woven into the story. The author was inspired to share this story after her son faced his own cancer battle. You can tell that her writing drew from personal experiences and felt very real. I loved this book, and I give it 5 stars.
Halfway Normal
By Barbara Dee
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grades 2 - 5 | n/a | 4.3 | n/a |
A cancer survivor must readjust to “normal” middle school life in this hopeful novel from the author of Star-Crossed and Truth or Dare.
Norah Levy has just completed two years of treatment for leukemia and is ready to go back to the “real world” of middle school. She knows it'll be tricky—but like the Greek mythological characters she read about while she was sick, Norah’s up for any challenge.
But seventh grade turns out to be trickier than she thought. Norah’s classmates don’t know what to make of her. Her best friend, Harper, tries to be there for her, but she doesn’t get it, really—and is hanging out with a new group of girls. Norah’s other good friend, Silas, is avoiding her. What’s that about, anyway?
When Norah is placed with the eighth graders for math and science she meets Griffin, a cute boy who encourages her love of Greek mythology and art. And Norah decides not to tell him her secret—that she was “that girl" who had cancer. But when something happens to make secret-keeping impossible, Norah must figure out a way to share her cancer story.
But how do you explain something to others that you can’t explain to yourself? Can Nora take her cue from her favorite Greek myth? And then, once she finds the words, can she move forward with a whole new ‘normal’?
Norah Levy has just completed two years of treatment for leukemia and is ready to go back to the “real world” of middle school. She knows it'll be tricky—but like the Greek mythological characters she read about while she was sick, Norah’s up for any challenge.
But seventh grade turns out to be trickier than she thought. Norah’s classmates don’t know what to make of her. Her best friend, Harper, tries to be there for her, but she doesn’t get it, really—and is hanging out with a new group of girls. Norah’s other good friend, Silas, is avoiding her. What’s that about, anyway?
When Norah is placed with the eighth graders for math and science she meets Griffin, a cute boy who encourages her love of Greek mythology and art. And Norah decides not to tell him her secret—that she was “that girl" who had cancer. But when something happens to make secret-keeping impossible, Norah must figure out a way to share her cancer story.
But how do you explain something to others that you can’t explain to yourself? Can Nora take her cue from her favorite Greek myth? And then, once she finds the words, can she move forward with a whole new ‘normal’?
Publisher: Aladdin
ISBN-13: 9781481478526
ISBN-10: 1481478524
Published on 9/4/2018
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 272
Book Reviews (3)
This is an awesome book about how a girl struggles to go back to school after having cancer for 2 years!It is more difficult for her because her parents got divorced.I recccomend this amazing book by Barbara Dee to middle schooler girls!
This book was great! Recommended for grades 4-8!