I've had a very busy time of it lately, but you'll be pleased to know that I still found the time (somehow) to read another book. Maybe I time-travel. You'll never know.
Anyway, I bought this book recently as it looked interesting. It took a lot of will to whittle down my pile of books in the bookshop and this was one of only two that made the cut.
Are you ready to get into this? I am.
About the Book (Image and Synopsis - Goodreads)
Two boys. Two secrets.
David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl.
On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.
When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…
My Review
I am, by now, practised at reviewing books. But there are still books that make it very difficult to articulate what I want to say and to put it into words. This book is one of these.
The first thing I will say is that this is singularly and conclusively the most unflinching novel I have ever read. Every word feels honest and spoken from the heart.
I have seen few books that resonate as strongly as this one. David and Leo could be anyone. Oh, they are beautifully developed, but Williamson has carefully and strategically also made sure that they could be any teenager out there.
The Art of Being Normal hits hard, comforts softly and celebrates loudly. It celebrates being different.
This book will do magical things, I think, for LGBT+ teenagers. It gives them an identity and a voice in all of the millions of voices in literature.
Be inclined to disbelieve that any book can be this good. I wouldn't blame you. But read it for yourself, and you'll see.
The language is startlingly real and the conversation very true to teenage conversation, which is very important for me.
This is a very, very short review, I know, but this book is beautiful. Too beautiful to ruin with words.
Lisa Williamson, hats off to you! I have tried to find something I dislike in this novel and really I haven't been able to. So I'm going to award it:
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