YA Wednesday

Something Like Normal
Trish Doller
Releasing June 19th, 2012
224 Pages
Bloomsbury USA Children's
Source: NetGalley


One of the best YA books of 2012.  This is a NEED TO READ for everyone who has ever wanted to get inside the head of a soilder.  WOW!!



Blurb:

When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up.

And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.


Trish Doller is a phenomenal writer and I was blow away by Something Like Normal. To be able to get inside the head of a character is hard enough, but to be able to get into the head of a male teenager who has spent the last year in Afghanistan is true talent. I was blown away.

I finished this book within a few hours, it was that addictive. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I wanted to know what we would see within Travis' head, and I adored the way he felt about Harper Grey...what a GREAT name for a heroine. I loved her!! and I loved the scene where they meet again, face to face. Harper is someone I would definitely be friends with.

Mrs. Stephenson was such a well written character, and the whole family is a true dynamic of what can happen to a family when they begin to fall apart. Travis may not have been the person he should have been for the past year, but he wants to change that and he begins to. He knows what's important now and all the B.S. just isn't so important anymore. The on and off relationship with Paige, his selfish brother, his fathers approval...those things just don't matter anymore.

This is just such an amazingly written YA novel and I give Trish a standing ovation for writing what so many young men needed to say, but maybe didn't have the voice. I simply adored this book and will re-read for years to come. I HIGHLY recommend this book to EVERYONE and I hope you will all Pre-Order this book, you will be simply blown away!!

http://www.amazon.com/Something-Like-Normal-ebook/dp/B007N6JE6K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337134165&sr=8-2