Customer Reviews

Not Exactly Normal

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4 star:		(1)
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This is, well, one of the best books I have read for young people during the past year. As a grad student pursuing my Master's in library science, I spend a lot time reading/studying literature for children and young adults. So much of the current fiction seems to focus on the darker aspects of life (abuse, drugs, divorce); Brown, on the other hand, chooses to pursue some of the greater questions young people deal with: Who am I? Why am I here? How do I relate to the rest of my race?

The opening chapter focuses on John Donne's "No Man is an Island" sermon, and Brown goes on through the rest of the book using famous authors, philosophers, and sports figures to help young people think about their own purpose and value. With realistic characters and an upbeat, fun style, Brown has created a very valuable book for children. Children and parents alike will appreciate his honest handling of tough questions. This is a great read-aloud for families or teachers, and has areas that will definitely spark discussion!

Inspiring, wholesome, reading -- even if you are not a child! Devin Brown expertly weaves the lessons in Not Exactly Normal into the happenings of every day in the life of 6th grader, Todd Farrel, who struggles to find a balance between his perception of "normal" and unique. The flowing dialogue entertains while inspiring contemplation about what it means to find one's own identity and still fit in -- to belong to a family, to be a best friend, to be a member of a community. The issues Todd faces reflect those of all adolescents, making this novel ideal for classroom reading and discussions. I will definitely be on the lookout for Devin Brown's next novel.

Definitely recommend this for anybody wanting a good book with fun characters, witty writing and an insightful message. I thouroughly enjoyed the book (even though I'm *old*). The characters were very well developed and, well, reminded me of teachers I'd had in school, or kid's I'd met in class.

My wife and I very much enjoyed reading Not Exactly Normal. Travel along with Todd Farrell, who is an ordinary 6th grade student going to a private school in a small town. Ordinary events, however, become extraordiary as Todd searches for a mystical experience as a part of his big Social Studies project. The characters are very vibrant and easy to identify with. There are many teaching moments in this book and it would be great for literature and/or religion classes in middle school and high school.

Sicerely,
Richard Galentino

It's a fact,Not Exactly Normal is an exceptional novel. What I loved about reading it, with my 6th grade daughter, was that we could both relate to the characters. It actually took me back to 6th grade, in a good way. It has inspired conversations about school and learning, teachers and friendships, and about how we are all connected. It's serious, it's funny, it's suspenseful, and it has wonderfully subtle messages about life. It's a fact -I highly recommend it!

A quietly beautiful and unassuming novel. This is a book by a good, experienced teacher and a thoughtful storyteller. The first is made clear by the choice of school setting, protagonists as well as by its foregrounding of inspiring teacher characters in the plot; the second by the careful development of the story through chapters 1-5, then its beautiful unfolding, in chapter 7, into a description of an ordinary-extraordinary synchronicity of minds and hearts between two beople, and finally its cascading double climax of NDE and mystical experience of unity with all creation in chapters 9 and 10. This development made me think that Brown has shown great maturity in approaching his subject. Difficult as it is to catch the fleeting moments of spiritual insights without trivializing them, he has done that delicately yet suggestively. This is the book's most significant characteristics as far as I am concerned.
The book has many other assets besides its treatment of the theme. Brown has a distinct style, is eloquent without being pompous, elegantly intellectual without being intimidating, and spiritually informative without being preachy. I read it with great pleasure and would recommend it to anyone aged 12 and over, especially to those who do not fear self-reflection. I'll definitely be looking forward to his next novels!

Todd Farrel is a typical sixth grader. His girlfriend experiences are humorous, usual young boy stuff. He asks what does it mean that he and Mary Drummond were girlfriend/boyfriend in third grade? "I have no earthly idea!" Then Terri Donnelly came along in fourth, where he stood "really close" to her a lot.

His teacher, Mr. Phillips, makes you wish you had him for sixth grade. He talks on their level, engages them in thought - "Pay attention - something special is happening", and has Question Time in class - where every question is permitted. Todd decides he's got 10 days to have a mystical experience, and then write about it. Then he waits and watches and worries he'll never have one. There's even a "Read More About It" chapter in the back that informs the young reader at their level about such figures as Geoffrey Chaucer, Pele, King Wenceslas or even Mia Hamm!

If you enjoy Joan Bauer books for young adults, "Squashed" and "Hope Was Here," you will equally enjoy Devin Brown's "Not Exactly Normal." It is upbeat, humorous and just plain fun.

Not Exactly Normal is a journey deftly led by Devin Brown. It is sweet but not syrupy. It teaches but doesn't preach. It is a meal for those tired of the junk food stories too often shared these days. Todd Farrel's search for a mystical experience is a pleasure to share. Learning on the edge of your seat is fun!

I had the curious experience of meeting Devin Brown before I knew much about "Not Exactly Normal". He was one of the authors at a festival showcasing largely YA books. While I knew practically nothing about the others, I knew that Mr. Brown had previously written a book on Narnia so, when I arrived, I went to the B & N tent and purchased "Not Exactly Normal" (plus two other books). I loved the title at once. It reminded me of a friend-therapist who says that no one is "normal" as we think of the word. We're - everyone - just a little bit a-kilter from that abstract center-point of humanity. (That's a very reassuring observation if you consider yourself to be "unconventional".)

According to the blurb on the back cover, the protagonist (Todd Farrel) sounded like an interesting kid. For a start, his best friend is named Nitro & his dog Cathode. He likes swimming and soccer amongst other things but he's also interested in having a mystical experience. The blurb even mentioned "seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary". Mystical experiences? Yowsa! The book sounded like a far cry from the usual one-note "school story" books.

Well, I managed to miss Mr. Brown's talk at the festival but I was curious about him so decided to wait out the autograph line in order to exchange a few words. When it was my turn, I mumbled something about my own experience with the mystical or "numinous" (as Lewis or Tolkien would have termed it). My words elicited a keen look of ... understanding or ... recognition. I realized that Devin Brown had written from personal experience. (Yowsa #2)

I've read the book with slightly different expectations than the other reviewers maybe, For one thing I was looking for any bit of authenticity in the protagonist's search for the mystical. Yes, I found lots of evidence pointing to experiences with the mystical by the author. At the same time, Todd Farrel and his friends, Nitro and Leda, came across as absolutely realistic. Some scenes were thought-provoking but many evoked nostalgia and some were outrageously funny.

I found Todd's family perhaps a touch too close to the extraordinary family in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time series and Mr. Phillip's sixth grade class perhaps a trifle close to the class in The Dead Poets' Society. But please don't misunderstand what I'm saying here! I'm not talking about "literary clones" but about an author breathing life into an extraordinary class and family and making them as real as, well, as "normal" ones - whatever they are.

Every word of what I just wrote is backwards, the more I look at it. Really what the author has achieved is showing us the extraordinary in an ordinary classroom teacher and in ordinary family members. He does this throughout the book with various settings and experiences - subtly highlighting brief outdoor scenes, moments of perfect teamwork between soccer players, and encounters between Todd and Leda all of which embody something "other" - something beyond the norm. As Todd says in one case, it was a "shimmery" moment.

This is a "shimmery" book. Maybe I was just lucky, but I found a lot of goofy ordinary school scenes and a lot of shimmery moments long before "the pivotal emergency" near the end of the story.

I hope that you will do so as well. Just keep looking for the extraordinary.

Sherry Thompson

(Oh, take a close look at the moon on the cover. It's not exactly normal. ;)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! So much of modern literature fails to provide a satisfying ending. You invest time and energy into getting to know the characters, only to have an ending that does not ring true to their traits or story arc. Not so with NOT EXACTLY NORMAL!!!

Mr. Brown artfully finessed the ending to leave you feeling complete and satisfied--in a true storyteller fashion. I felt rewarded for the investment I made in Todd Farrel. Mr. Brown also does an excellent job of conveying weighty, moral topics in a simplistic, easy to digest manner. While undertaking this task it would have been easy to cross the line into pedantic and preachy (many fine authors have slipped across this line), NOT EXACTLY NORMAL never feels that way! Mr. Brown seems to respect the reader and their ability to glean the moral issues rather than hitting you over the head with them.

I also felt the characters were deftly drawn. The kids did age appropriate things, interacted with each other in a realistic fashion and spoke with voices that sounded like sixth graders (and not like an adult man trying to sound like a sixth grader).

I whole-heartedly recommend this book for adults, as well as young adults! In NOT EXACTLY NORMAL, Mr. Brown has refreshed the art of good storytelling.