Publisher's description: "Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she's not. She's smart and creative and a little bit funky. She's also an unwilling player in her parents' modern-hippy, let's-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (regretfully, instigated by a younger, much more enthusiastic Janie). This, to put it simply, is not helping Janie reach that "normal target." She has to milk goats every day…and endure her mother's pseudo celebrity in the homemade-life, crunchy mom blogosphere. Goodbye the days of frozen lasagna and suburban living, hello crazy long bus ride to high school and total isolation--and hovering embarrassments of all kinds. The fresh baked bread is good…the threat of homemade jeans, not so much." There's nothing like an upbeat feel good book. TEN MILES PAST NORMAL is just that. The writing is fluid and conversational and Janie is a strong, intelligent almost 15 year-old girl who is just beginning to pave her way in the world.
I love how the cute boy Janie has a crush on turns out to be just a cute boy. I admire Janie and Monster's understanding that although they have chemistry the age difference is too big for now. I appreciate how Janie's parents give her space in dealing with school, farm life and her social issues. The historical story weaved in about the civil rights endeavors of some of the townspeople was informative and enlightening. The literary references made me smile (cows that type, gotta love it.)
This is one of those books I wish hadn't ended quite so soon. I really enjoyed it and will recommend it to tweens and young teens.
Read as an e-book arc courtesy of Simon and Schuster. It will be published in March 2011.
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