Scholastic Booktalk

“Nothing “normal” here.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Readers will sympathize with the social anxieties Klise probes.” – Booklist

“Rueful yet bubbling humor.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“God, please let us be a normal family with a normal car and live in a normal house and do normal things that aren’t embarrassing and different and loud. This is all I want. Please. Thank you. Amen.”

Charlie Harrisong doesn’t hate his family, he just doesn’t want them to be so different from everyone else. Sometimes it seems like the whole world is laughing at them, and he’s the only one in his family who even notices. They may live in Normal, Illinois, but they aren’t even close to being normal.

They live in a yellow brick house with creepy looking bushes in the front yard. They rent it because they can’t afford to buy it. They don’t even have air conditioning. They don’t have enough money to buy a house because there are five kids in his family, not two or three like everyone else. Charlie’s parents are okay—his mom works from home making slipcovers for furniture, and his dad is a handyman. He can fix anything, but the cartoony-looking guy painted on the side of his truck looks like an idiot who just hit his thumb with a hammer. Charlie thinks it makes his dad look stupid. Ben, Charlie’s little brother, is always acting crazy and telling jokes, his little sister, Laura, cries about everything—usually really loud and in public. Clara, his older sister, is running for seventh grade class president, which has completely ruined Charlie’s plans for spending sixth grade becoming either invisible or as close to normal as possible. Sally’s just a baby, so she isn’t too bad, although she’s awfully loud, but Charlie figures it’s just a matter of time. And worst of all, his family always does everything together, whether it’s shopping or movies or going out for ice cream, so everyone always notices them.

But what really wasn’t normal was when Charlie’s parents decided suddenly, without warning, that the whole family would pack up and leave town in the middle of the night, taking just what they could stuff into a few suitcases and boxes, and leaving the rest behind. Making important decisions late at night with way too little information was seriously not normal. They were leaving behind everything they knew, risking everything. It was unreal, and scary, and it was happening to the Harrisong family.

This Booktalk was written by librarian and booktalking expert Joni R. Bodart

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  The Teacher Store

  Far from Normal by Kate Klise When we last left Charles Harrisong and his family, they were drifting in a houseboat off the coast of Alabama. But their direction shifts abruptly when Charles's book about their decision to leave Normal, IL, gets made into a major motion picture, catapulting the Harrisongs to instant fame. And when the superstore Bargain Bonanza debuts a clothing line based on the family called NormalWear, Charles and his family's lives go from their not-so-normal houseboat to a penthouse apartment and their $6.99 Paperback Book | Grades 4-7

  
  Far from Normal
  Grades 4-7 $6.99
  
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  The Teacher Store

  Deliver Us from Normal by Kate Klise Yes, there really is a Normal, Illinois. Charles Harrisong should know; he was born there. But life is difficult for Charles because his family isn't normal at all. They're poor, for one thing. They stand out, which is the worst thing. After an ugly incident at school, Charles and family leave Normal and begin an adventure that takes them to a houseboat that just might be their new home. And Charles begins a personal journey within his own heart; one that will ultimately deliver him both from a $16.95 Hardcover Book | Grades 4-7

  
  Deliver Us from Normal
  Grades 4-7 $16.95