Description:
There are five towns in the United States named "Normal," and seventeen-year-old Gemma Leonardo plans on visiting every one of them. That is, right after she escapes Children's Hospital in Harrisburg, where she is being treated for anorexia.
Enter Lucas Polizzi, a high school wrestler with bulimia and--more importantly to Gemma--a getaway car. Sick of being told they're sick, Gemma and Lucas team up for a themed road trip to "the Normals" on one condition: They can' t mention food, ever.
But as each passing mile puts their lives at greater risk, they soon realize that it is their growing love and friendship, not a place on a map, that will put them on the path to recovery.
Brief description:
Jennifer Salvato Doktorski is the author of five young-adult novels, including Finding Normal, winner of the Acheven Book Prize; Famous Last Words, named a Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year; and The Summer after You and Me, a YALSA Teens' Top Ten nominee.
Review Quotes:
"Balances humorous banter with teenage hijinks and heartfelt conversations to deliver a propulsive road-trip novel that showcases white-cued characters refusing to be defined by their hardships [and] forging new paths forward."
-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"