Originally released in 2003, Define “Normal” has recently been made available as an unabridged audiobook performed by Christine Lakin.  Antonia is in the 8^th grade and she is an A-student.  She has been assigned the difficult task of being a peer-counselor to one of her classmates, Jazz, a “punker” who dyes her hair, has an eyebrow ring, and is into tattoos.  She has lots of attitude and most people think she is strange.  As Antonia finds out more about her, it turns out that Jazz’s main problems are that she argues with her wealthy parents a lot about her friends and her clothes.  In contrast, it turns out that Antonia has real problems: her mother is mentally ill, her father left several years ago and has divorced his wife, and Antonia has to care for her two young brothers Michael and Chucky.  She has to do the cooking, laundry, and housework, as well as her own work.  Her mother just lies in bed and smokes.  Antonia has lost any friends she used to have, and she is under a great deal of stress.  The situation of her family is not sustainable and eventually a crisis comes.  Her mother ends up in mental hospital and Antonia and her brothers go to a foster home. 

There are not many depictions of serious mental illness in young adult literature, and this story is worthwhile in giving a sense of how serious it is and how difficult it is for children to cope with mentally ill parents.  It also shows how it can cause resentment among some children when parents neglect them.  But ultimately the book is hopeful and positive: Antonia’s mother improves dramatically after treatment. The book also gives a positive image of peer counseling: although it starts out with plenty of conflict between the two girls, they eventually come to understand each other better and become friends.  They are helpful to each other even though they have very different backgrounds. And the story is well-told; Antonia is an admirable girl who copes with a great deal. 

The unabridged audiobook is good: Lakin keeps the characters separate and although her voice is not particularly young, the reading makes her a sympathetic narrator.

© 2014 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York