NORMAL KIDS

Seventeen-year-old Hannah Dresher is tired of being responsible for her dysfunctional family.

Her alcoholic mother’s frequent benders leave Hannah concerned about the welfare of Seth, her younger brother. When she returns from work to find her mother passed out in bed with a strange man, Seth missing, and Seth’s broken cell phone on his bed, along with a bong and the empty rent money envelope, Hannah knows this is another problem that she’ll have to fix. With no reliable adults to turn to, Hannah begins a journey through dangerous parts of town in search of Seth. Fortunately, she comes across Eli, a cute and helpful boy she barely knows from math class, who joins her on her hunt. During an action-packed night, they question a drug dealer, run from cops, and almost get beat up. Over the course of their adventure, they go from strangers to something more. Hannah is a young person weighed down by unfair responsibilities, and in meeting Eli, she realizes that she wants to put her own needs first, setting off an internal conflict that becomes a running theme throughout the book. This thrilling story is ultimately realistic but optimistic, with Hannah learning to find hope in the people around her. Hannah and Eli are cued white.

Reluctant readers will be engaged by this suspenseful and heartening tale.