Schneider Family Book Award, Middle School, 2009Īccess-restricted-item true Addeddate 11:00:44 Boxid IA40112623 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

Tin box on a tar patch - Small stuff - Welcome pie - According to Webster's - The over-underpass - A renovation - Tryouts and friendships - Gates and bridges - TV and toast dinners - A gift of cream and honey - A bunch of numbskulls - A violent storm - evening interview - Waiting for Mommers - Late-night mail - Another dish of fish-and-chips - A different sort of Halloween - A phone call from the mansion - The new blue car - All or nothing - Dwight explaining Hannah - All about twos and fours - Bedtime at the inn - Breakfasts and boxes - A ton of turkey soup - From good to bad - Willing to bloom - Twists and turns - The counting-on part - A frozen good-bye - An unexpected meeting - A few gifts before Christmas - Waiting for normal - Jingle all the way - Another thing to borrow - Loads of snow - A visit from Grandio - Valentine hearts - The goosh in my gut - Fiesta night - Making changes - My fault - A hero in the fog - After the fire - Something familiar - The going-away note - Defining normal - Full of surprises - All to home (Feb.Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York Characters as persuasively optimistic as Addie are rare, and readers will gravitate to her. Addie works hard to fill the void her volatile mother creates, and Addie's attempts to make things “normal” result in some of the most moving scenes: she keeps the cabinets full by putting empty boxes of food on the shelf “for show.” In such moments Connor shows both the extent to which Addie has been abandoned and just how resilient and resourceful she is. While her mother disappears for days at a time with her new boyfriend, Addie cultivates friendships with people she meets at a neighboring convenience store, but the affection she receives from others doesn't compensate for the absence of love in her home.

But after he and her mother divorce, and he gets custody of Addie's two younger half-sisters, it's up to Addie, a sixth-grader, to keep order in the tiny trailer that Dwight has found for Addie and her mother. Addie's stepfather, Dwight, has always been the responsible one in the family. ) treats the subject of child neglect with honesty and grace in this poignant story.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor