The Art of Being Normal

Product Information

You must have heard about The Art of Being Normal by now and, if not, I'm not sure how you have managed to miss it. Published on 1st January, it's one of the most talked about UKYA novels published this year so far, and has certainly set a high standard. Like many books being released lately, The Art of Being Normal uses a dual narrative technique, switching between the point of views of David and Leo. It reminded me a lot of Non Pratt’s novel, Trouble, in the sense that the point of view switches were snappy and seamless and both voices felt unique. I have to say I preferred Leo’s voice to David’s which was a bit of an issue for me, and there was nothing particularly unique or memorable about Williamson’s writing style for me to grab on to, but despite this, I still found myself consuming this novel at a rapid pace and finished it in just three days! What the Hell, Hero?: Leo gets one from his aunt Kerry upon returning from his brief escapade to Kent. On a meta level, and reportedly unitentionally, the two protagonists share their names with an iconic Hollywood duo. As his body transforms with puberty, David gets further away from the petite, feminine frame he desires. The rising testosterone in his body elongates his figure and causes his feet to become large and unattractive. Despite Felix’s encouragement that Kate Winslet wears size nine shoes, David obsessively measures himself, distraught at the appearance of stubble on his chin. He wishes he had the curves of his mother. During the moments he is left alone in his house, David dresses up as a girl and uses his mother’s makeup, only to wipe it off and feel uncomfortable in his own skin once more. He reflects on the fact that he has never had a girlfriend or boyfriend, never been kissed, and never even held hands with someone.

Homophobic Hate Crime: Leo is a trans boy who transferred schools because of a hate crime. A few people at his school led him into the woods, slashed his clothes, and tried to shred off his chest binder. And just the struggle of being a kid these days…honestly. I sometimes can’t believe how hard it is to grow up nowadays. Never mind growing up being a little different than the other kids in school. I get fiercely protective of those being bullied…reading it makes my stomach tie up in knots and I want to crawl into my Kindle and make it right. Yeah…this book was a bit of a punch in the gut for me. When it comes to LGBTQIA-books, transgender characters are very underrepresented, which is a damn shame. Complex topics like gender identity and transsexuality are more and more discussed in society these days, so it’s important that we see those topics represented in literature. The Art of Being Normal is one of those pieces of literature that tries to do that, and does a good job, but overall the plot, the writing, and the supporting characters are pretty average. The book has a whole lot of misgendering, deadnaming and usage of the wrong pronouns and on top of that, there's bullying, transphobia and name calling and if that's not bad enough, here's some more. I know that trans people have different experiences and points of view on their gender, but so many things about this book seemed off to me.No Name Given: Kate's father's name is never said, though her mother's name is Jo. Similarly Leo's father Jimmy/Jonathan's name is brought up frequently, but his mother's name (Samantha) only finally shows up in the second half of the book. urn:lcp:artofbeingnormal0000will_2015:epub:d0bf1aa3-5305-4722-b0cb-795c630eb8ed Foldoutcount 0 Identifier artofbeingnormal0000will_2015 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t8z983v3q Invoice 1652 Isbn 9781910200322

I wanted to go a little more in depth on the use of pronouns and names in this book. Though Kate is a trans girl - A GIRL - for most of the book she still goes by her birth name and he/him pronouns. Both in narration and dialogue David and he/him are used, which I didn't have much of a problem with until she was out. Even after Kate is out to Leo, he still continues to call her David and uses he/him pronouns. You'd think a trans person would understand the importance of names and pronouns. HE KNOWS how much it hurts to be called by his birth name and yet he still goes out and calls Kate by hers. That's just plain bad and if the author did any research on this, she'd know. The Art Of Being Normal' follows David, who stumbles through the minefield of high school and puberty knowing in his heart that everything is wrong... because he wants to be a girl, knows he is supposed to be girl. Navigating bullies gets a little easier for him though with a well aimed punch from Leo Denton, who struggles alongside David with a family that barely seem to notice him and a blossoming relationship with a beautiful girl that seems too good to be true. Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: After sniping at each other for most of the book, Kate and Livvy have a very sweet moment at the dance, where Kate comforts her little sister after she has a fight with her best friend. Forced Out of the Closet: Leo comes out as trans to his crush Alicia, but she rejects him. Alicia's friends find out his secret and out him to the entire school.

The Art of Being Normal: Context

And I also like Leo a lot! And I like how, at least in the Dutch version, the different point of views are indicated with different fonts. I really like how this worked out! Leo, the second main character, is also trans, which I loved. A book with two trans characters front and centre was amazing. And the fact that they were there for each other was really nice to read about (although like I said a moment ago, Leo’s misgendering and use of David when talking to and referring to Kate irked me). It is David’s isolation and quiet desperation that Williamson captures so well. Biology is sabotaging his longing to be petite and feminine. Time is against him as a rising tide of testosterone elongates his skinny frame, lengthens his penis, makes his pale, blue-veined feet ugly and huge (“Kate Winslet is a size nine” offers his friend Felix encouragingly). David measures himself obsessively, is dismayed at the thought of stubble and covets his mother’s curves. During those rare moments when he is left alone in the house, he dresses up as a girl before wiping away the makeup and feeling like a stranger in his own body once more. While his friends are all making out, or so he imagines, David reflects that he has never had a girl- or boyfriend, never kissed, never even held hands. A sweet YA-story with a couple of amazing diverse characters, although the story itself could have been better. Besides, who wants to be normal anyway? Fancy that on your gravestone. ‘Here lies so-and-so. They were entirely normal.’”

I don't think I've ever been so happy to finish a book. And I don't mean that in a bad way, I literally finished the book with the biggest grin on my face, content with the ending and slightly wanting more Kate (David) and Leo. I'm so glad this book was mainly focused on finding ones true self, as well as true friendship. You know, the type of friendship you'll have for life.Like so many YA books out there these days, this type of book didn't exist when I was growing up. I'm so glad that it exists now, however, and hope that people read it, are moved by it, and perhaps convinced to change their behavior, to understand that their definition of "normal" isn't everyone's. So well done.