Deliver Us From Normal

Written by Kate Klise

Narrated by Johnny Heller

Author Kate Klise is known for her quirky graphic mysteries she created with her sister and illustrator, M. Sarah Klise . This, her first solo effort, is a story of self-acceptance. Everyone knows sixth-grader Charles Harrisong is so not normal! At least, this is what Charles thinks. He lives with his large family in Normal, Illinois and attends Normal Junior High where he is embarrassed by everything. Charles is headed towards a major meltdown. Then, he and his family pack up one night and mysteriously move away. This could be their new beginning as a "normal" family. But, then again ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 6, 2008
• ISBN: 9781440799396

Kate Klise

Kate Klise is the author of several picture books and novels, including Grounded and Homesick. She frequently collaborates with her sister, the illustrator M. Sarah Klise. Kate travels all over the country speaking to classrooms about her work. She lives in Norwood, Missouri.

Reviews for Deliver Us From Normal

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't want to write a big review about this, because it hits too close to home and brings up parts of my childhood that weren't as idyllic as the parts I focus on remembering. But I have to say this:

The other reviewers who think this is lame, or irrelevant, or unbelievable, or whatever, don't get it. God bless 'em for being so innocent. How nice for them that they had such a nice childhood that they don't identify with this family.

The tone at the end is just a bit too optimistic, but that's ok - that's what the young readers who *do* empathize with this need.

Oh, and btw, it does *not* bash religion. It reluctantly admits that the Catholic doctrine doesn't have a unique take on all the answers, that's all.

[soccer5-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Deliver Us From Normal is about a family living in poverty. The Harrisong family lives in Normal, Illinois in a mustard yell house. They live in Normal, but their lives are anything but Normal. The main character is a boy, Charles. Charles and his four siblings each deal with poverty on a different way. Charles seems to struggle with the family's situation the most. An unfortunate incident occurs at school that causes the whole Harrisong family to move in the middle of the night from their rented mustard yellow house in Normal to a small dilapidated boat in Alabama. Charles has to help his family fix up the boat.I recommend this book as a family Read Aloud because it tells about how a family learns to work together to solve intense problems. By: soccer5

[cmbohn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I remember being so totally embarrassed by my parents when I was a teenager, but never to the point of Charlie Harrisong, who feels that his life is nothing but one big embarrassing moment after another. He can't believe that his older sister Clara doesn't feel the same way. Things come to a head when a nasty incident at school convinces his parents that they've finally had enough and they take off for a better life. I'm not sure how realistic that part of the book is, but I did feel for Charlie and I was rooting for him to figure a few things out and stop worrying so much about being 'normal'.

[camcleod_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My new favorite line from a book: "Hey, is this Lent? 'Cause this sure feels like Lent." Said when engaged in some thankless or seemingly neverending chore.A sweet book, Deliver Us from Normal is the story of the Harrisong family, a working-class, Catholic family whose older son Charles suffers from severe consciousness of their many eccentricities. I appreciated the fact that the author does deal with the issue of social class, something ignored in too many children's books which are focus on middle to upper class families only.

[heike6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The book is supposedly told from the point of view of a 6th grade boy named Charles. I say supposedly because no 6th grader would use passages like the ones she had coming from the main character, with small details about driving, etc. "Normal" is both the name and the description of the town he and his family live in. Charles has a big family that doesn't fit in, and of course that bothers him. His sister runs for class president, some kids from the school vandalize the posters, and all of the sudden the family packs up and takes off in the middle of the night. Before they took off, Charles heard something about someone feeling bad for him and I thought there was something more to the story, so I read excitedly to the end to find out... nothing. The family packed up in the middle of the night and moved onto an old houseboat in the middle of nowhere just because the girl's campaign posters were vandalized. Great lesson there- when someone picks on you, move! It was a very well written book (for adults), I wish there had been more to it.