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mcarley88's review
3.0
This was an okay fun little book. It isn't the best writing and the conflicts are, while serious, relatively easily resolved. I liked it, but I probably wouldn't reread it...very mediocre YA novel, honestly. I did like the friendship between the main characters and the way it resolved, although I wonder if it would have been a little more than friendship had the book been written in the past ten years.
frabjousfairy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
rebecita's review against another edition
3.0
I was in the mood for something teenage and angsty, and this fit the bill. The story itself is more morality play than a realistic plot, but the characters are relatable and deep and introspective. They have dark secrets and insecurities and ways of rebelling that don't involve sex/drugs/cutting or whatever is the hot button issue of the year. There are some cool twists along the way.
Tangent. Note to authors of young adult novels. Slang. The entire point of slang is that it marks one as an insider/outsider. No one is more hyperaware of this than your audience. Please take a moment and avoid these common pitfalls.
1)If you are not well versed in the current vernacular, don't force it. For all that is holy, do NOT invent your own slang. This is only acceptable if you're creating your own funky scifi future. (I am looking at you, author of this book. That's so bode! My parents are going to cronk!! Just... no.)
2) If you can't write without recycling slang from your own generation, go all out and set your story back in the day, please. (Congratulations, Ms. Peters, you pass this one. I could do with a more specific feel of time/place, but at least I'm confident all your characters got the memo that it's not 1975 anymore.)
3) Slang should be seen and not heard. Let me pick it up by observing speakers in their natural habitat. I do not want an etymology lesson. Particularly if you have violated either of the above maxims, DO NOT draw further ridicule by having your characters discuss the slang. (Guilty again. What's worse than "bode?" Rhyming it. Yeah.)
4) Consider doing some actual research. We're not exactly talking about infiltrating the mafia or even cracking a book. Turn on a reality show. Go to the mall. It took about one day in an Oakland middle school for me to start mentally inserting "hella" into every sentence. On second thought, I understand why you have avoided this option.
5) When in doubt, just stick in some profanity.
Tangent. Note to authors of young adult novels. Slang. The entire point of slang is that it marks one as an insider/outsider. No one is more hyperaware of this than your audience. Please take a moment and avoid these common pitfalls.
1)If you are not well versed in the current vernacular, don't force it. For all that is holy, do NOT invent your own slang. This is only acceptable if you're creating your own funky scifi future. (I am looking at you, author of this book. That's so bode! My parents are going to cronk!! Just... no.)
2) If you can't write without recycling slang from your own generation, go all out and set your story back in the day, please. (Congratulations, Ms. Peters, you pass this one. I could do with a more specific feel of time/place, but at least I'm confident all your characters got the memo that it's not 1975 anymore.)
3) Slang should be seen and not heard. Let me pick it up by observing speakers in their natural habitat. I do not want an etymology lesson. Particularly if you have violated either of the above maxims, DO NOT draw further ridicule by having your characters discuss the slang. (Guilty again. What's worse than "bode?" Rhyming it. Yeah.)
4) Consider doing some actual research. We're not exactly talking about infiltrating the mafia or even cracking a book. Turn on a reality show. Go to the mall. It took about one day in an Oakland middle school for me to start mentally inserting "hella" into every sentence. On second thought, I understand why you have avoided this option.
5) When in doubt, just stick in some profanity.
zoemig's review
2.0
“So if you’re not popular, you’re not normal?”
“I didn’t say that.” Did I?
Jazz is a punk, Antonia is a priss, and neither of them could be any more different. Or could they? That's the question Julie Anne Peters forces the reader to ask in Define Normal, a young adult book where two girls get paired up for peer-counseling and discover they have more in common than they ever could have imagined. Of course they also both learn a lot about the value of taking things at surface value and not looking any deeper, which is a predictable but true moral for a book whose main characters are heavily defined by their appearance to the world. Everyone thinks that Jazz is a rebel and no good, and that Antonia has a perfect life with her straight As, but it turns out both of them have secrets. Antonia's mother is very unreliable and she is forced to care for her two younger brothers, while Jazz has a hidden passion and talent for classical piano. Together the two girls help to bring out the best in each other, and become better friends than anyone would ever have guessed.
Define Normal was published in 2000, and although that is only a decade ago, it already feels dated. The idea of Antonia being so scandalized by Jazz having dyed her hair black or having an eyebrow piercing, just doesn't feel like something that would shock an average teen today. Also referring to Antonia as a priss seemed a bit strange, I have honestly never heard anyone called that and I think that if Peters changed the description to "prep" instead it would make a real difference in helping to draw me into the highschool world. In some ways, when I was reading Define Normal I felt like I was being taken back to the eighties. That's not to say these things couldn't have happened a couple decades ago, but unlike Catcher in the Rye and other classic teen novels, I felt like some of the dated terminology pulled me out of the world Peters was trying to take me into. Peters also invents some of her own slang, and words like "bode" and "cronk" just feel weird and make it seem like Peters is trying too hard to make Jazz rebellious and cool.
Overall both Jazz and Antonia are extremely likable and relatable main characters, I could imagine either of them attending my former highschool. Their problems, while maybe not common, were certainly realistic, as were the ways they coped with them and the ultimate conclusions for both girls. Define Normal is a good story, it just doesn't have the universal magic to make it a great one. **
“I didn’t say that.” Did I?
Jazz is a punk, Antonia is a priss, and neither of them could be any more different. Or could they? That's the question Julie Anne Peters forces the reader to ask in Define Normal, a young adult book where two girls get paired up for peer-counseling and discover they have more in common than they ever could have imagined. Of course they also both learn a lot about the value of taking things at surface value and not looking any deeper, which is a predictable but true moral for a book whose main characters are heavily defined by their appearance to the world. Everyone thinks that Jazz is a rebel and no good, and that Antonia has a perfect life with her straight As, but it turns out both of them have secrets. Antonia's mother is very unreliable and she is forced to care for her two younger brothers, while Jazz has a hidden passion and talent for classical piano. Together the two girls help to bring out the best in each other, and become better friends than anyone would ever have guessed.
Define Normal was published in 2000, and although that is only a decade ago, it already feels dated. The idea of Antonia being so scandalized by Jazz having dyed her hair black or having an eyebrow piercing, just doesn't feel like something that would shock an average teen today. Also referring to Antonia as a priss seemed a bit strange, I have honestly never heard anyone called that and I think that if Peters changed the description to "prep" instead it would make a real difference in helping to draw me into the highschool world. In some ways, when I was reading Define Normal I felt like I was being taken back to the eighties. That's not to say these things couldn't have happened a couple decades ago, but unlike Catcher in the Rye and other classic teen novels, I felt like some of the dated terminology pulled me out of the world Peters was trying to take me into. Peters also invents some of her own slang, and words like "bode" and "cronk" just feel weird and make it seem like Peters is trying too hard to make Jazz rebellious and cool.
Overall both Jazz and Antonia are extremely likable and relatable main characters, I could imagine either of them attending my former highschool. Their problems, while maybe not common, were certainly realistic, as were the ways they coped with them and the ultimate conclusions for both girls. Define Normal is a good story, it just doesn't have the universal magic to make it a great one. **
ladyida1's review
5.0
OH My goodness I am in love with this writer.
From page one I was drawn into the characters.
I can totall y relate to the main character not having much and having family issues and trying to keep everything a secrete and together.
I got so invested into this characters I didnt want this book to end. ;(
But at last it had too and what a wonderful ending.
Book 2 of the 2019 Reading Rush :)
From page one I was drawn into the characters.
I can totall y relate to the main character not having much and having family issues and trying to keep everything a secrete and together.
I got so invested into this characters I didnt want this book to end. ;(
But at last it had too and what a wonderful ending.
Book 2 of the 2019 Reading Rush :)
williamsdebbied's review
3.0
Antonia, a high-achieving student, participates in a peer counseling program. When she is paired with Jasmine (Jazz), a pink-haired punker who is always in trouble, Antonia wants to run the other way. Jazz isn't any happier to be seen with Antonia. Eventually, though, the girls learn that not everything is as it seems and that "normal" doesn't necessarily mean "happy." They come to depend on each other and be less afraid of showing who they really are.
rajesh_bookrider's review
4.0
4/5 stars
Antonia (14 year old) is a "straight A" student, who signs up
a peer counseling program. her peer is a punker, druggie, gang hanger girl, Jazz (Jasmine Luther), or Antonia thinks she is.
Antonia seems normal girl where Jazz is exact opposite to her. When she sees Jazz is paired with her, she wants to quit the program. But Dr. Dileo (their counseling program head) forces her to keep continue doing it.
Even they are very much deferent from each other, there is something common between them.
They are hiding a secret from each other.
As story goes on they learn about each other secret and start to help each other and become friends. But there is another secret in their peering.
It's not a mystery type (it's barely 200 pages though)
Antonia's secret, which she is trying to hide from Jazz, is her mother is clinically depressed and She has to look after her mother and two brothers.
And Jazz is a simple rebellion against her mother.
I really enjoyed this book because it is very well written and it has strong and very well developed characters.
It is pretty engaging to read Antonia's struggle with her home life. It makes you feel sympathetic toward her.
And Jazz's cold war with her mother and her passion for music.
We often judge people by their appearance like, how they dressed, whom they talks, like Antonia does here.
But here, it's not like, you will get what you see. Sometimes people seems normal but inside their are mess.
That's why this Novel titled.
Define "Normal"
Antonia (14 year old) is a "straight A" student, who signs up
a peer counseling program. her peer is a punker, druggie, gang hanger girl, Jazz (Jasmine Luther), or Antonia thinks she is.
Antonia seems normal girl where Jazz is exact opposite to her. When she sees Jazz is paired with her, she wants to quit the program. But Dr. Dileo (their counseling program head) forces her to keep continue doing it.
Even they are very much deferent from each other, there is something common between them.
They are hiding a secret from each other.
As story goes on they learn about each other secret and start to help each other and become friends. But there is another secret in their peering.
It's not a mystery type (it's barely 200 pages though)
Antonia's secret, which she is trying to hide from Jazz, is her mother is clinically depressed and She has to look after her mother and two brothers.
And Jazz is a simple rebellion against her mother.
I really enjoyed this book because it is very well written and it has strong and very well developed characters.
It is pretty engaging to read Antonia's struggle with her home life. It makes you feel sympathetic toward her.
And Jazz's cold war with her mother and her passion for music.
We often judge people by their appearance like, how they dressed, whom they talks, like Antonia does here.
But here, it's not like, you will get what you see. Sometimes people seems normal but inside their are mess.
That's why this Novel titled.
Define "Normal"