Sara and the Search For Normal: Guest review

This review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

Written by Wesley King

Simon & Schuster/ Paula Wiseman Books

978-1-534421134

272 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2020

Is it bad to admit that I pick books based on their covers and titles?  Well, sometimes I do. I loved Wesley King’s Laura Monster Crusher, but didn’t even notice that he was the author when I saw the title Sara and the Search For Normal.  The title just drew me in. After all, what is normal?  I know that, while on a European trip with my parents, we were deemed "that crazy family" when we continued to sit on a patio enjoying our schnitzel in a downpour. Even though I had deemed our lives to be pretty normal, others, including friends, recognized our eccentricities. When I spotted Sara and the Search for Normal, I couldn’t wait to see how Sara’s search for "normal" would go.

Seventh-grader Sara hates the labels of the four disorders which have been tacked on her: bipolar disorder, general anxiety disorder, mild schizophrenia, and depression. But she really only wants one title and that's normal. Her school days are spent in an isolated classroom with her one-on-one teacher Mrs. Hugger, and she only speaks to a handful of people including her parents, teacher, and therapist. It's not surprising that she studies other students for normalcy on the rare occasions she is allowed to go to the cafeteria with Mrs. Hugger. Then Sara keeps a secret list of what "normal" kids do so that it might help her on her own journey to normal.

Though she is hesitant, Sara begins to attend group therapy for kids her age with similar issues. There she meets the very different Erin, who speaks a mile a minute, and loves ice cream and Ryan Gosling movies. Erin has trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) and dubs Sara her new bestie within seconds of meeting her. These two mismatched friends navigate therapy, adolescence, and friendship together all while trying to manage their own family problems.

I really enjoyed living the novel through Sara’s perspective. It can be hard for neurotypical people to fully understand the struggles of those with various mental disorders. While most readers might not be able to fully empathize with all that Sara goes through on a daily basis with her many diagnoses, everyone will be able to feel her emotions. There's her first crush, the ups and downs in friendships, trying to fit in at school, and dealing with family members, and Wesley King does a fabulous job of balancing Sara’s search for "normal" with the joys and anguish that come with being a teenager.

Upon finishing the novel, I read the "Author Notes" at the back of the book and realized this book is a companion novel to Wesley King’s popular book OCDaniel (2016).  If you have read that multi-award-winning book, you will have already been introduced to Sara.  Because her character was so well-received by the readers who wanted to know more about her, Wesley King has given us Sara and the Search for Normal.  Regardless, this book can easily be read as a stand-alone novel and enjoyed without knowing the story of OCDaniel, though if you're like me and have not read OCDaniel, it's sure to be on your To Be Read list too.  As such, I look forward to reading the beginnings of Sara’s story in OCDaniel.


~ Reviewer Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature. 

The Missing Dog is Spotted

Written by Jessica Scott Kerrin

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-726-9

204 pp.

Ages 8-12

March, 2015

Two years ago, Jessica Scott Kerrin brought us The Spotted Dog Last Seen  (Groundwood, 2013) about Grade 6 student volunteers who help the Twillingate Cemetery Brigade and learn from the elderly Mr. Creelman and his cronies about reading epitaphs and cleaning grave markers.  But there was much more to that story, including a school’s time capsule, a spotted dog and a Mystery Book Club, and The Missing Dog is Spotted takes us to an earlier time to introduce those critical elements, while providing a great story in itself.

Sixth graders Trevor and Loyola may have a secret and unspoken pact that “under absolutely no circumstances were they to appear together side by side” (pg. 12) because of the  humongous disparity in their heights, but it seems the universe doesn’t know about that agreement, because, when they get out of volunteering together on the Twillingate Cemetery Brigade, they are then thrust together at the animal shelter to walk dogs for the elderly.  While the two kids walk their six dogs, they soon realize that everyone is more focused on the dogs, not them.  That’s okay since they will need to work together to help solve the mystery of Mr. Fester’s missing dog, Buster.  And that mystery is complicated.

The Missing Dog is Spotted may be based on Trevor and Loyola’s volunteering with dogs but it’s a far greater story about trying to do the right thing, accepting that sometimes things go wrong and can never be fixed, and guilt can be brutal.  Of course, I’m not giving away much about who feels such guilt or about what because it’s irrelevant–though you'll learn it soon enough when you read the book– since guilt is universal, even for those who could take a lesson in accepting responsibility for making the lives of others more difficult than necessary.  But Jessica Scott Kerrin doesn’t saturate The Missing Dog is Spotted with that guilt, though there is that anguish that is always involved when an animal goes missing and even more so when that animal belongs to an elderly person who adores that pet.  Instead, Jessica Scott Kerrin holds the angst back and ensures that The Missing Dog is Spotted remains a strong middle grade book that focuses on the concerns and misunderstandings that children and pre-teens might recognize, and still provides a happy ending, for a dog at least.