The Art of Being Normal

For my second blog book I read "The Art of Being Normal" by Lisa Williamson. I also found this book on http://foreveryoungadult.com. The book is set in Britain and follows two different main characters through their struggles and relationships to one another. The first character is David who goes to a very good school, has a great family and is pretty well off. The problem is David is miserable because he is actually a she. David is a girl trapped in a boy's body and is really Kate. Kate feels trapped and miserable because she can't come out to anyone or show who she really is without horrible bullying and being outcast completely. It gets bad to the point that she feels life is no longer worth living. Until she meets Leo. Leo is a new kid who comes from a worse school and a very messed up family situation. Leo and his sisters live with his mother who is an alcoholic who is never home and when she is she does nothing to take care of her children and is even borderline abusive at time. Leo finds himself often digging around for change in order to be able to buy fast food for dinner. The actions of Leo's mother have also caused Leo to resent women and be unable to form any type of feelings towards a girl. Leos father is also absent and his mother refuses to tell him anything about his father. Leo longs to be reunited with his dad and escape his awful home life. Leo meets Kate when he sees her being bullied and steps in to fight of the attackers. Leo and Kate become friends and Kate eventually comes out to Leo. Later in the book Leo also manages to track down his dad and Kate goes with him on a road trip to find him. During this time Kate can actually be Kate and not David. Its great to see that on the entire trip Leo is very supportive and open towards her.   I think this book was wonderful because it shows a very real problem that exists for many people trapped inside bodies that they don't belong in. I think the book also gives a great example of how to be a friend to these people and stand up for them and their rights. I think the fact that the main characters are just on the cusp of puberty also makes it much more relatable and understandable for kids this age which is when a lot of gender identity crisis occur. I really enjoyed reading this book and the perspective it gave me on certain things. Overall I would recommend reading this book especially if you're unsure of many gender related problems as I was. This book makes this issue more understandable in my opinion and offers a great story line as well.