The Art of Being Normal: A Novel Hardcover – May 31, 2016

I purchased this book as part of a 30 Days of Pride Book Review project. This is that review:When David was 8 years old, his class was told to write about who they wanted to be when they grew up. This is what David wrote: “I want to be a girl.” Five and half years later that wish has not changed, but it seems to David that time is running out to make it right. Everyday his body is changing in the wrong direction, he's getting taller, his feet are getting bigger, and other parts of his anatomy seem to have minds of their own. He hates the strange body staring back at him from the mirror. But everytime he tries to work up the courage to tell his parents about who he really is, he chickens out at the last minute. How is anything supposed to change for the better if he can't even explain, to the very people who might be able to help, exactly what is wrong?Leo needs to focus on flying under the radar at Eden Park, so he can sit his exams, get into a college, and get as far away from Cloverdale as possible. He doesn't mind the rumor spreading around that he got expelled from his last school because he was a psycho. If that helped people stay out of his way, mores the better. But things are not quite going to plan, because the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on keeps striking up conversations with him, a kid from year ten, David, wants to be his friend (for some inexplicable reason), and he's on permanent probation for punching a kid (who really had it coming). But he can't let any of this distract him, Eden Park is his ticket out of Cloverdale and he HAS to escape.This is a story, more than anything, about friendship. There are other things going on, of course. Both our POV characters David and Leo have big things happening in their lives that they have to learn to deal with: first romances, school bullies, family issues and endless identity crises. But, at the crux, this was a story about finding someone you can relate to and suddenly not feeling alone.I quite enjoyed this book.I liked that it was more about friendship and self discovery than romance. I liked that it had a more realistic depiction of the struggles of a trans-teen. I liked that it got into some of the class issues, as well as the double standards still operating towards psychological torment versus physical violence in the school system. I liked that it captures how very isolating and lonely it can feel to be seen as not normal and how much that can screw with your mind, while you decide from minute to minute if you'd rather tear down what is normative or magically blend in. I liked that things didn't come one hundred percent easy for the characters or magically get better in an after-school special kinda way.It was just, overall, a solid teen novel about friendship and finding yourself.Honestly, the thing I found most irksome was the plot description on the back cover. A detail about Leo is revealed in the first sentence, that Leo himself doesn't reveal until page 176 of a 344 page novel. Now, there were plenty of signs that this was happening and I probably would have picked up on it from the beginning anyway, even if the back hadn't spoiled it, but I can't say for sure because I didn't have the opportunity to read it that way. In the second paragraph of the plot description they talk about a character named Kate. This name does not appear anywhere in the novel until page 266. Which isn't a huge spoiler… but is kind of a head scratcher. I just don't understand why the plot description was written this way when the book itself wasn't. It's like they were at cross purposes from each other.Do I recommend this book. Yes, I do. It was a pleasant read, living in that happy medium between unrealistically easy LGBT+ story and overly realistically depressing LGBT+ story. Just don't read the back cover until you've read the rest of the book.

It has been over two years since the evening I finished the book. I had a horrible migraine, and I left school early and spent the afternoon reading this book with an umbrella over my head. Sound and light were unbearable to me, but I couldn't stop reading.This book made me come out as transgender. I am on hormone replacement therapy, and I am going into college now, thinking of going stealth - I learned that word from Leo. Thank you, Leo, and thank you especially, Kate, for guiding me, a terrified high schooler, through this scary path.

It is strange for me to read about Young People who og trough Things like David does. But I must say I fell in love With these characters and their stories, and thanks to this book I will pay more attention to transexual People and I feel like I might understand them more now. What I know that I do understand is that they are just People, like all of us are. Respect. I feel like this book helped me pay more respect to People in general. Rally Nice story. Very importent.

Lisa Williamson's The Art of Being Normal is a moving, well-written reminder of how brutal, yet how beautiful, the world can be to those who are different.David Piper has really never fit in. Apart from his two best friends, most of his fellow high school students ridicule him for being different. One of the school bullies has called him "Freak Show" since they were younger, but David is willing to wait him out until high school ends. His parents think he is gay, and are waiting for him to tell them.What David wants, more than anything, is to be a girl. But as he grows taller and more like his father, he wonders if this will ever be a possibility.Leo Denton is the new kid in David's high school, coming from a poorer area to the more posh private school. Overly exaggerated tales of his exploits at his last high school follow him, but he lets people say what they want about him. Yet while he wants to remain under the radar, two events occur which ensure that wish isn't granted: he stands up for David when he is being bullied, and then he falls for one of the most beautiful and talented girls in school. It's not long before secrets he hoped wouldn't be exposed come to light.I felt The Art of Being Normal so accurately captured the feelings one experiences when you are different, when you are bullied, and how you just wish you could hide to avoid the ridicule and abuse. Williamson created such complex characters that you feel for and root for, characters you think about after the book is over. Even if once the story hits its stride you have a feeling how the plot will unfold, you're completely drawn into the characters' lives and you want to know what is going to happen.Like so many YA books out there these days, this type of book didn't exist when I was growing up. I'm so glad that it exists now, however, and hope that people read it, are moved by it, and perhaps convinced to change their behavior, to understand that their definition of "normal" isn't everyone's. So well done...

Made me laugh and cry. A very down to earth and touching story of such a difficult time in two very special teens lives. To handle a very sensitive subject in such a compassionate way is a very special gift and the author tells this story with great feeling.

I bought this book for the school collection because some kids ask for it and i was quite sorprised. Easy to read in a topic that for us is new (now has a space to be talked about). I like the athmosphere of the book, the characters were touching and easy to emphatizised. Not the best literature but a good one in a book that is witten to put this subject in the run, specially to an age that are so permeable to tragedies. Important topics to have on our school shelves.

Twice in a row I'm left speechless by the book I've just read. I read The Art of Being Normal in one sitting, and only put it down to wash my hair; I even read it in the bath, which isn't something I normally do out of fear of getting my book wet - of course the corner of the book ended up in the water, all because I was so enrapt in the book.The Art of Being Normal is the first book about being transgender that I've ever read, and before now I didn't know much about it. I've always been 100% accepting of it - I believe that people can be born into the wrong body and that no amount of pretending to be someone you're not can change who you are inside - I believe the brain can be wired in ways so that it doesn't match the body of the person it's encased in; the mind and body are two separate things. As far as I'm aware I've never met anyone trans, but, reading this book has made me feel like I do now. Lisa Williamson managed to create two very real people, who I both believed in and felt emotion for. I actually think I'm a little in love with Leo.There were times when I felt so much sadness for both Leo and David/Kate, but both characters also made me laugh and smile too. I loved Essie and Felix as well, the real world needs more people like them in it. I also have to admit that I liked Alicia too - I think her reaction is probably very common, and although I felt no anger or annoyance at Leo, I can't help but feel sorry for her; I think people in her situation probably feel lied to and hurt, even if they are totally accepting of trans individuals. And I think as long as they are eventually understanding and forgiving, they're allowed that moment of confusion and hurt. Additionally, Lisa Williamson created a school environment so well that I pictured every school scene taking place in my secondary school - her description of the seating plan in the canteen was so perfect that I sent a picture of that paragraph to a school friend so we could laugh about the accuracy of her description of the popular kids in the middle of the canteen.I feel like this book has definitely taken me on a journey, but I know I'm nowhere near a place of full understanding of what trans individuals have to go through. This world can be very cruel, as Lisa Williamson has shown, and although I've dealt with abilism coming against me, I can't imagine what some people must experience when faced with the knowledge that the body they're in isn't right, and how the world reacts to this. Teenagers, and children, (plus adults too) can be very, very nasty and I can know that there must be people out there that have experienced what Leo and David/Kate did; and that honestly breaks my heart. I'm really glad I read The Art of Being Normal and I will definitely read other books that share the same themes as it.The Art of Being Normal has helped educate me, but more importantly I'm sure there's people out there who feel more at ease with knowing they're in the wrong body by reading this book (and others like it), because it highlights the important fact that those people aren't alone; and that not all people are like Harry. The Harrys of this world are a waste of organs, and I hope this book helps to show that.

The author has done extensive work with young transgender people and consequently the characters felt real. They were rounded and had plenty of other things in their lives besides being trans -- very important to show. The novel doesn't go into medical detail, which is a perfectly fine choice especially with a non-trans author. It's a story about being trans, not about transitioning. It's also a story about other things -- wider questions of identity, hopes and dreams, family secrets, bullying. It feels as though it'll be relatable to a lot of young people without moralising or patronising.There is bullying, with the expected slurs, in the first half. Less later on. It's handled well towards the end with the trans girl character's friends shown standing up for her. I much preferred this approach to the idea of having a redemption arc for the bully, which would have been unnecessary and trite. There will always be nasty people, and good people to tell them to sod off.

The Art of Being Normal is a book about two trans teens (one stealth and the other closeted) and follows the plotline of family relationships (don't worry this book isn't the kicking-out narrative). This book was good for a cis-written ice-breaker into a trans narrative- the characters seem fairly authentic and the story is interesting.If you are cisgender, take this story with a pinch of salt and read something written by a trans author if you are looking for a more accurate account of our experiences (I heard Mason Deaver's "I wish you all the best" is good, Juno Dawson is another trans author).The author has done research, but despite this- there are majorly obvious inaccuracies that should've been picked up- this being the one main issue I have with this book, which pointlessly dead names the main, Kate (in which you use a person's old/birth name instead of their actual/new name). Seeing as this is one of the main books I often see in relation to trans stories- I feel like it needs to be brought up.Note- I am mostly mentioning below points as a small hope in hell the publisher reads this and consider editing these points in future editions of the book. As a trans person, I feel like cis/non-trans readers should also be aware of this when reading in order to understand some inaccuracies, whilst a lot of the characters experiences and emotions in this book are fairly accurate, this novel is not the most accurate account.If you are trans, this might not be the book for you if you if you are upset by dead naming and general transphobia (the story involves bullying and violence).In newer editions of the book, the blurb has been thankfully edited to be less dead-namey of the main character- which was great and I was thankful for, hoping in the updated version it was brought to the book. Why the hell it wasn't in the actual book I have no clue.Despite the author working with trans youth and supposedly doing research (and editing the blurb in newer editions) you would've thought this would be obvious. Surely someone who has worked with trans people knows how upsetting and harmful dead naming to the individual is?? (I mean that's probably why they edited the blurb?? So why not the book??)Up until the point where the main reveals her name this is understandable but it then continues beyond this point which is defunct and pointless. The POV chapter names remain as her dead name- despite her being 'out' to the reader. Kate's true name is also used intermittently with characters she is out to- used only when she is dressed as a 'girl' and 'passing'. This shows poor research and lack of actual concern to the stories message as to non-trans people it gives the idea that the only time a trans person is valid is when they 'pass' and that our identities are like a 'costume' we put on. (Which is not the case btw)Additionally, when the other trans character Kate is out to gets angry, they purposely dead-name her. In my experience as a trans person and of other trans people,, no trans person would ever purposefully dead name another, even IF angry (the only acceptable time is when you are with someone you are not out to). Yes, not all trans people are the same BUT it is highly unlikely that a trans person would dead name another trans person- its just a really horrible, and in this situation an insidious thing to do. The other character doesn't even apologise (which I guess would be a point (?) to the original action (?)) and continues to return to dead naming.I really wish this book had been given to a trans person in editing, as these elements would've been pointed out almost immediately and feels disheartening as good trans lit is so far and few- this book is so close to being great and one of the better cis-written trans narratives.Overall, I think this book is good but definitely needs further editing and guidance from trans people to make small changes to make it better. Read it, enjoy it, but understand its issues.

A book about becoming, about growing into who you wish to be, created with deft and thoughtful hands. The plot is clever at times funny, at others scary or just sad. You love the good guys who always have just enough resourcefulness to get by, and hate the bad guys whose worst quality is to be intolerant of anyone different, calling one of the protagonists 'Freak show' just because he made the mistake of saying what he wanted to be when he was eight years old, he wanted to be a girl.As someone who knew that situation once myself, I enjoyed Lisa Williamson's take on it. Thankfully, I don't have David's size 9 feet, but much of the other stuff I could relate to. However, it isn't a book about changing gender, it just happens to feature a transgender character and allows us to watch 'her' grow as her friendship with Leo, another outsider, develops with some interesting twists.Everyone should read it and if they do, they'll enjoy it and be uplifted.

Ok if im to be completely honest when i saw this book on the kindle store i thought that it was another cliche teen comtempory drama that ended with an inspirational quote.. WELL I CAN CONFIRM I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG.David piper is a normal teenager who enjoys binge tv watching and spending countless days scrolling through his social media feed. However David has a deep secret that if anyone finds out even his parents, he feels that his life will be over. When one of the bullies in school finds his secret in his diary and spreads it,David goes balistic and consequently faces suspension. However mysterious new boy Leo saves David from public humiliation by befriending him and scaring away all the mockers and haters. David and leo become close friends and soon realise they have more in common than they both thought…A really enjoyble and easy read, the plot was gripping and very clever and the ending was a real shocker, NOT PREDICTABLE AT ALL!!! The message in this book should be preached to all ages as the main subject is very topical and current at the moment, i think that everyone sbhould be educated on this topic so we can become an accepting generation to our diverse world we inhabit in. Howeverf there is some mild explicit content in this book so i would recomend for ages 12+ . SERIOUSLY A MUST READ!!