(Intermediate, Middle School) "Me, I'm good at getting used to things -- been doing it all my life." Twelve-year-old Addison lives in a trailer in Schenectady with her mother, never knowing how long -- a few hours, a few days, a week -- her moody, unreliable mom will be gone, off with a new boyfriend. Despite a bevy of concerned individuals (including her former stepfather Dwight; Elliot, the gay owner of the nearby mini-mart; and Elliot's best friend Soula, a cancer patient with a jovial disposition), Addie fends for herself and keeps her mother's absences a secret. Connor convincingly portrays Addie's beyond-her-years resourcefulness and the opposing feelings that drive her to protect the life she has while longing to be a permanent part of the "normal" home her half-sisters occupy with her stepfather. Occasionally the dialogue, especially between Addie and her mini-mart friends, gets folksy and sappy; but overall Addie's commonsense approach to her problems keeps the sentimentality in check. Soula's description of the hibiscus tree in a nearby barbershop window applies to Addie as well: she is "willing to bloom in conditions [she] was never meant to encounter." (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

We've seen this situation before: a parent neglects a child, while the child seeks a wider community to find support. Here that child is 12-year-old Addie, who lives with Mommers in a trailer on a busy street in Schenectady after her adored stepfather and half sisters move upstate. Mommers has lost custody of the littles  because of neglect, and though she and Addie can laugh together, once Mommers hooks up with Pete, she is not much for good times though she brings the bad times home. Addie finds solace in occasional visits to her sisters and in her neighbors, especially Soula, ill from her chemotherapy treatments. Connor takes a familiar plot and elevates it with smartly written characters and unexpected moments. Addie starts out being a kid who thinks she has to go along to get along, but as Mommers' actions become more egregious, her spine stiffens. And though Addie loves her time upstate, she is willing to forgo it when the normality she has there is more painful than positive. This is a meaningful story that will touch many.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2008 Booklist

Connor (Dead on Town Line) treats the subject of child neglect with honesty and grace in this poignant story. Addie's stepfather, Dwight, has always been the responsible one in the family. 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. 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. 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. Characters as persuasively optimistic as Addie are rare, and readers will gravitate to her. Ages 10-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A heroine with spunk and spirit offers an inspiring lesson in perseverance and hope. When a young girl's parents divorce, she's separated from her stepfather and her two young half-sisters. Life is far from normal as Addie and her irresponsible mother settle into a tiny trailer on the corner of an urban intersection. Addie admits, "I'm good at getting used to things--been doing it all my life," and immediately makes a cozy nest for herself in the trailer. She optimistically starts sixth grade, makes friends, meets her neighbors and keeps house on a shoestring while her unpredictable mother spends days sleeping and nights chatting on the Internet. Challenged by dyslexia, Addie works extra hard to succeed in school and learn her flute part in the orchestra. Yearning for a "normal" life, Addie's shaken when her stepfather and sisters move away leaving her on her own with her moody mother who disappears for days. Disappointed and alone, Addie realistically makes the best of a bad situation. In the end, her positive attitude and ability to find happiness make all the difference as she patiently waits for "normal." First-rate. (Fiction. 10-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 5-8-"Normal" is the dream for 12-year-old Addie in this poignant novel (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books, 2008) by Leslie Connor. Her erratic mother and her adored step-father Dwight have divorced. Her stepsisters are living with Dwight, while Addie must move into a tiny trailer with her mother. Addie, the optimist, makes a cozy nest in the trailer, starts a new school, joins the orchestra, and begins to make new friends. Her mother complains about her circumstances and soon takes up with Pete and leaves Addie alone for days on end. It is not until a near tragedy occurs that she is rescued from her neglectful mother. Narrator Angela Rogers skillfully delivers the first-person narration and nicely captures Addie's confident voice. Listeners will root for Addie as she comes to accept her mother's shortcomings and finds the home she longs for with Dwight and her sisters. For a more heart-wrenching story about neglect, point students to The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson (Delacorte, 1997) by Carol Lynch Williams.-Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.