Anything But Normal

Title: ANYTHING BUT NORMAL
Author: Melody Carlson
Publisher: Revell
January 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3258-5
Genre: Inspirational/teen

Sophie Ramsay is now a senior in high school, and it should be the best year of her life. But a mistake made during summer camp is haunting Sophie. The boy is “hot” and Sophie’s best friend, Carrie Anne, imagines that she’s in love with him. But Sophie is finding it incredibly hard to be around him…he promised to call, and didn’t. Was he simply unable to keep his promise, or did he intend to lie?

Now school is starting. Sophie is a shoo-in for editor of the school newspaper, and she’s on the year-book committee. She even managed to turn the head of a really great guy at school. But a secret Sophie is carrying threatens to destroy it all.

When Sophie writes an article about a controversial subject suddenly she has everyone mad at her. And Sophie isn’t sure who’s side she’s on. Only time will tell if she did some good or if this will haunt her…

ANYTHING BUT NORMAL is the newest book by Melody Carlson. She is a very talented author who suddenly was able to transform me from a forty-something year old woman into a teenager, with all the angst, drama, and attitude. The book was a bit too much “telling” at first, keeping me distant, but as the story progressed I became Sophie and felt all her emotion.

Ms. Carlson is an extremely talented author who is able to convey her point easily and engagingly. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ANYTHING BUT NORMAL, but it did make me kind of glad the teen years are far behind me now. (Its enough to live the drama through my own teens!) My teenage daughter is anxiously awaiting me to finish this review and hand her the book. Don’t miss any book by Melody Carlson. And if you are a teen, or the parent of one, check out ANYTHING BUT NORMAL. $9.99. 251 pages.

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A Gripping Novel That Showcases the Other Side of Teen Pregnancy:
She was smart, well-liked and about to start her senior year.
But now she has a secret to keep hidden and a broken heart in need of healing.

Melody Carlson is able to write to teenaged girls in ways that tap into their greatest hopes, fears and struggles and, through the tales of her beloved characters that quickly become like BFFs, help readers make sense of the confusing and complicated world around them.

This is no less true than with Carlson’s latest release, Anything But Normal:
Sophie is your normal, average high-school girl who attends church and gets good grades. The summer is wrapping up and while she should be counting down the days to the start of her senior year, she’s anything but excited. What Sophie’s in need of right now is a fresh start.

While her best friends are worried about what to wear and the cutest guy in school, Sophie’s got bigger concerns—like the secret she’s keeping about what happened this summer. She’s about to find out that she won't be able to keep things under wraps much longer.

In this page-turning novel, Carlson offers readers a realistic and heartwrenching vantage point into the messy and emotional world of teen pregnancy. Readers can relate with Sophie who just wants to be normal and loved, but now must figure out how to deal with the consequences of what has happened.

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus. She also writes many teen books, including Just Another Girl, Anything but Normal, the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series. Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon.

For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.