Normal: One Kid’s Extraordinary Journey

Normal is a non-fiction book written by a teenage boy, Nathaniel, and his mom, Magda. Nathaniel was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, which is a craniofacial condition. This book is a memoir of their lives, the ups and downs of having craniofacial differences, the many surgeries that Nathaniel had to have, and how his family got through it. Magda didn’t know that Nathaniel had craniofacial differences until he was born. That’s when surgeries started.

Nathaniel is the real-life Auggie Pullman from Wonder. They even say in the book that Wonder changed how people looked at and approached Nathaniel. They met the author, helped her talk to some schools, and Nathaniel even auditioned for the role of Auggie in the movie. The family got to visit the movie set and give the actors some tips on what it is really like to live with a craniofacial condition.

When I heard about Normal, I really wanted to read it because I loved reading Wonder. It is broken into chapters, but it is written in Magda’s and Nathaniel’s own words, each with their own font and paragraphs. I think that Nathaniel is funny in how he writes. He once asked a doctor to give him Spider-Man figures while the doctor was working on his nose. This made me laugh. I liked the flashback sections that have Magda’s memories of things when she was younger or a memory of when Nathaniel was younger.

I would recommend Normal to kids aged ten and up. If you liked the fictional story Wonder, then you will love Normal.