Waiting for Normal

 “A heroine with spunk and spirit offers an inspiring lesson in perseverance and hope. First-rate.” -- Kirkus Reviews

Connor, L. (2008). Waiting for normal. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.

Addie lives with Mommers, her unstable, "all or nothing" mother, in a trailer on the corner of a busy street in Schenectady, NY. Although her beloved stepfather does his best to support Addie, his ex-wife, and their two young children, his visits to Addie are few and far between. Mommers leaves her for days at a time, forcing Addie to fend for herself and "wait for normal." She seeks out supportive adult relationships, and finds it with the owner of the mini mart across the street. When the owner passes away, Addie is once again on her own with no adults to look up to. After visiting her stepfather and his new family, she is once again reminded of the normalcy she will never have living with Mommers. However, when her stepfather finds out about Mommers' lack of parenting, he does everything to get custody of Addie. Will he get her back and give Addie the normal life she has been waiting for?


Reading Level: 570L
Suggested Delivery: Small group or independent read

Electronic Resources:

Reader's Guide: This reading guide can be used before, during, or after reading Waiting for Normal. It gives readers a brief summary of the novel, along with hooks that can be used to get a reader's attention. The source gives some information about the author, including a link to her website and a list of other books she has written. It also lists the themes found within Waiting for Normal, and other books with the same themes. This will make it easy for students who enjoyed this book, to find similar books and keep reading. Finally, the source has a long list of writing prompts and discussion questions that can be completed after reading.

Discussions: This reading guide is similar to the first electronic resource. It has information about the author, Leslie Connor, as well as a summary of Waiting for Normal.  It also lists questions that students can answer during and after reading the book. Unlike the previous resource, these questions are more aimed at inferential comprehension then literal comprehension. This source also includes an interview with Leslie Connor, in which she discusses her inspirations for Waiting for Normal.

Vocabulary: dingy, reprobate, morally, unprincipled, piccolo, assimilate, condensed, exquisite, squelch, scrunched, resilient, meticulous


Reading Strategies:

• Before Reading: Throughout Waiting for Normal, Addie describes her mother's behavior as being very erratic and, often, "all or nothing." Her moods and behaviors constantly change. Addie hints that her mother suffers from bipolar disorder, a disorder which can cause drastic mood swings and unstable behaviors. Although there are signs the her mother has this disorder, a young reader may not understand what that means. A guest speaker could come in and discuss what bipolar disorder is and how it affects not only the person suffering from it, but those who are around that person as well. This will give students the background knowledge they need to understand Addie's situation. Learning this also helps students understand why this novel represents diversity. 
• During Reading: After learning about bipolar, students can complete graphic organizers in which they record Mommers' bipolar behaviors. They can also complete a graphic organizer with the behaviors of other characters. Once both have been completed, they can compare and contrast the behaviors of the two characters.
• After Reading: Give students copies of several pages of the novel. Ask them to identify the important words on the page. These words should relate to the overall themes and messages of the book. Students circle these words and then blackout the rest of the page. With only the important words legible, the students have created a found poem about the novel. 

Inferential Comprehension: How has living with a mentally disabled adult affected Addie? How does she react to her mother's behavior? Why does she defend her? What would you do if you were Addie?