Scan barcode
A review by heather4994
The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini
5.0
I just don't even know where to start with a review of this novel. The characters, Perry, well he is so endearing in an adorkable way, you know boys like this even if you were a girl, you were like him, maybe still have moments like he did. You can't help but like him, he's just trying to become a man and has no idea how to do it. He's fifteen and hasn't hit puberty. He's into playing an RPG game that's not played on a computer. Yeah, more adorkable. He makes his own battle plans and characters but doesn't name them. He doesn't buy the expensive characters. He doesn't even have friends to play the game with. What? No other "nerds" to play this game with. Until he meets Sam in the comic book store. And buys a book about C&C called "The Other Normals". They play in the stairwell at Perry's school and plan campaigns and battles. Perry has one friend.
And then his alcoholic brother tells him, he's going to Summer Camp. Not Math Camp. Nope this is normal camp with regular kids. His parents have been divorcing for 8 years and are dating their respective divorce lawyers so the lawyers confirm this bit of doom and then his parents do, too. It's the worst news he can imagine. As they drive to the camp, there is a sign that all lawyers must get out there. So the divorce lawyers get out without questioning it. (Weird) Maybe if they compared the brochure to the camp they would sue. The lake on the brochure is beautiful, in reality, it's drained. And so it goes with the rest of the camp. Perry's RPG things are confiscated except for a small figure his mom gives him before she leaves. It looks amazingly like Perry and comes in handy when he gets in a fight immediately.
And then, Perry's life changes forever. He follows a creature that he created for C&C into the woods and travels to the world of "The Other Normals". The adventures that follow prove his mettle as a boy on his way to manhood and disprove everything he thought he knew about the universe. He meets Mortin Enaw, Ada, Gramary and Leidan all of whom change his life and he changes theirs. He is tasked with kissing Anna, a girl from the camp across the non existent lake and when they send him back to his side of the world he gives it an awkward try. An embarrassing, unplanned and completely inappropriate thing happens. He has to escape to "The Other Normals" to get away from his shame.
Through a few trips back and forth, the events in his world are changed as well in "The Other World" but Perry himself is changed. He's no longer this kid who is afraid to live in the real world that he has to escape into an RPG to live. He learns to trust himself, think, be brave.
It is a funny story with weirdness at every turn. It is a story about an awkward teen whose pick up line is to hold a fire extinguisher and say, "You need this because you're so hot." He thinks the three story comic book store is like a "nerd Mothership." This is the young inexperienced Perry.
This is Perry in the world of "The Other Normals", just taking things in stride, sorta. "No I'm not. I put down my spork. Everybody uses sporks in the world of the Other Normals." Funny little tidbits are thrown in that make you back up and say, wait what? And you go back and read it again. I so see my youngest son in Perry an I'm going to get a print copy of this for him so he can see that growing up isn't all terrible. It can be a fun adventure. That's what I got most from the story, that despite the awkward phases, you can still go on, no matter how embarrassing or hard it seems.
I definitely think there is room for another story though it's nicely wrapped up. I'd love to read another adventure, growing up story about Perry. It was amazingly well written, fast paced, humorous and fresh. No wasted words, it never got slow or dragged. Even at 400 pages it was a fast read.
I haven't done it justice with my review. I know that. Hopefully others will do a better job. This is an amazingly well written story about the awkwardness of being different in a world of "normal" and trying to fit in. It's about finding that fitting in isn't at all what it's cracked up to be and that being different, being who you are is just fine. But you have to find out who that really is, be honest with yourself about who you are. And you have to move forward. Ned Vizzini is so great at capturing awkward teen years. I hope he continues to write these stories, for the awkward teens, boys and girls, everywhere.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher Balzer and Bray for an honest review. This in no way influenced my review. The opinions expressed are my own.
And then his alcoholic brother tells him, he's going to Summer Camp. Not Math Camp. Nope this is normal camp with regular kids. His parents have been divorcing for 8 years and are dating their respective divorce lawyers so the lawyers confirm this bit of doom and then his parents do, too. It's the worst news he can imagine. As they drive to the camp, there is a sign that all lawyers must get out there. So the divorce lawyers get out without questioning it. (Weird) Maybe if they compared the brochure to the camp they would sue. The lake on the brochure is beautiful, in reality, it's drained. And so it goes with the rest of the camp. Perry's RPG things are confiscated except for a small figure his mom gives him before she leaves. It looks amazingly like Perry and comes in handy when he gets in a fight immediately.
And then, Perry's life changes forever. He follows a creature that he created for C&C into the woods and travels to the world of "The Other Normals". The adventures that follow prove his mettle as a boy on his way to manhood and disprove everything he thought he knew about the universe. He meets Mortin Enaw, Ada, Gramary and Leidan all of whom change his life and he changes theirs. He is tasked with kissing Anna, a girl from the camp across the non existent lake and when they send him back to his side of the world he gives it an awkward try. An embarrassing, unplanned and completely inappropriate thing happens. He has to escape to "The Other Normals" to get away from his shame.
Through a few trips back and forth, the events in his world are changed as well in "The Other World" but Perry himself is changed. He's no longer this kid who is afraid to live in the real world that he has to escape into an RPG to live. He learns to trust himself, think, be brave.
It is a funny story with weirdness at every turn. It is a story about an awkward teen whose pick up line is to hold a fire extinguisher and say, "You need this because you're so hot." He thinks the three story comic book store is like a "nerd Mothership." This is the young inexperienced Perry.
This is Perry in the world of "The Other Normals", just taking things in stride, sorta. "No I'm not. I put down my spork. Everybody uses sporks in the world of the Other Normals." Funny little tidbits are thrown in that make you back up and say, wait what? And you go back and read it again. I so see my youngest son in Perry an I'm going to get a print copy of this for him so he can see that growing up isn't all terrible. It can be a fun adventure. That's what I got most from the story, that despite the awkward phases, you can still go on, no matter how embarrassing or hard it seems.
I definitely think there is room for another story though it's nicely wrapped up. I'd love to read another adventure, growing up story about Perry. It was amazingly well written, fast paced, humorous and fresh. No wasted words, it never got slow or dragged. Even at 400 pages it was a fast read.
I haven't done it justice with my review. I know that. Hopefully others will do a better job. This is an amazingly well written story about the awkwardness of being different in a world of "normal" and trying to fit in. It's about finding that fitting in isn't at all what it's cracked up to be and that being different, being who you are is just fine. But you have to find out who that really is, be honest with yourself about who you are. And you have to move forward. Ned Vizzini is so great at capturing awkward teen years. I hope he continues to write these stories, for the awkward teens, boys and girls, everywhere.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher Balzer and Bray for an honest review. This in no way influenced my review. The opinions expressed are my own.