What the **** is Normal?!

Author: Francesca Martinez
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0753550407
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
If you grow up in a world where wrinkles are practically illegal, going bald is cause for a mental breakdown, and women over size zero are encouraged to shoot themselves (immediately), what the hell do you do if you’re, gasp ... DISABLED? Whatever body you’re born into, the pressure to be normal is everywhere. But have you ever met a normal person? What do they look like? Where do they live? What do they eat for breakfast? And what the **** does normal mean anyway? This is the award-winning wobbly comedian Francesca Martinez’s funny, personal, and universal story of how she learned to stick two shaky fingers up to the crazy expectations of a world obsessed with being ‘normal’.

What Is Normal?

Author: Jane Ryan
Publisher: Confer Books
ISBN: 9781913494209
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
What this book reveals so clearly is that, when probed, the notion of normality is fragile and shifting. It is not clear who decides what being normal means in any historical moment, or who is entitled to say. Nonetheless, concerns with conforming, fitting in, and being accepted are deeply pervasive. For most, being normal is a goal, and deviation from accepted norms feels like failure. Yet many people do not really feel normal. When sexuality, gender, health, ethnic group or any other common variation on the dominant theme is at play someone can feel out of step with this elusive standard. Others depend on being different to be creative, radical and discerning. Readers may conclude that it is our very uniqueness as individuals that makes us usual, and that we rely on our edge dwellers for cultural growth. This fascinating book explores these issues and more.

What Is Normal?

Author: Ginny Scales Medeiros
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781508511793
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
This fascinating story follows the life of a young girl, Sue, who was born into abuse and poverty. Sue defeated the odds, winning through her own grit, determination and humorous ingenuity. She made her way from the backwoods of upstate New York, and lived in a trailer with her uneducated, teenage parents-a structure that eventually became a chicken coop. Feeling invisible, she learned to take advantage of that invisibility and embarked on a Dickensesque-lifestyle of petty theft. By the time she was a young teenager, she had discovered the misguided benefits of drugs and alcohol. Sue emerged from the most likely NOT to succeed...into a success. On her own at 15, she invented a product sold on QVC. Battling her demons, Sue finally WINs over self-destruction and the world's fantasy of What Normal is-and found her authentic self.

Is This Normal?

Author: John Whyte
Publisher: Rodale Books
ISBN: 1609611225
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
A collection of vital information that answers readers' most pressing questions about how age impacts their bodies. Many people are embarrassed to bring their everyday health anxieties to their physicians or even to ask for advice from family and friends. They might think that depression, failing eyesight, memory loss, and other difficulties that change their quality of life are normal because of their age. This is where Is This Normal? steps in and lets readers know whether or not these changes should be a concern or an expected part of aging. With compassion, reassurance, and friendly guidance, Dr. John Whyte, chief medical expert at the Discovery Channel, provides the essential tools for dealing with the common health issues that arise as we get older, proving that you can stay active and healthy at any age. "Using soothing language and a gentle sense of humor, Whyte...tries to separate fact from rumor." —The Washington Post "All your embarrassing aging questions answered—finally!"—Vital Juice

No Such Thing As Normal

Author: Megan DeJarnett
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578646534
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
No Such Thing As Normal speaks to the curiosities and difficult questions that arise in a world full of diversity. Equipped with discussion questions, this story provides a creative, honest, and interactive way to instill dignity and respect for all people.

Define "Normal"

Author: Julie Anne Peters
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 031604640X
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Book Description
What you see isn't always what you get in this funny and heart-wrenching story about two girls from different crowds who find common ground, by National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters. Antonia is a "nerd," and Jazz is a "punk." Antonia belongs to the math club; Jazz hangs out at the tattoo parlor. Antonia's parents are divorced and her mother suffers from depression. Jazz is from a wealthy, traditional family. But when these two very different girls find themselves facing each other in a peer-counseling program, they discover they have some surprising things in common. With both humor and heart, this absorbing read will keep readers thinking and laughing.

The Normal Kid

Author: Elizabeth Holmes
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books ®
ISBN: 1467732281
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Book Description
Sylvan has been angry ever since his parents split up. And now that an embarrassing photo has appeared in the paper, he's stuck with a lame nickname too. Charity is back in the United States after several years in Africa. And she's learning that home can be a strange place when you've been away for a while. Neither of them knows what's up with Brian. He spends whole afternoons alone on his trampoline. From the first day of school, Sylvan knows he doesn't want to hang out with weirdoes like Charity or Brian. He'd rather just be a normal kid. But when the principal gets ready to fire their favorite teacher, Sylvan, Charity, and Brian have to find a way to work together.

Normal

Author: Magdalena Newman
Publisher: Clarion Books
ISBN: 1328631834
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
A beautifully illustrated and lyrical picture-book biography of eccentric and beloved writer Praised by R.J. Palacio as "wondrous"--this moving memoir follows a teenage boy with TC syndrome and his exceptional family from diagnosis at birth to now. "This touching memoir is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the real-world experiences of a child with craniofacial differences and his extraordinary family. It's also more than that. It's a story about the love between a mother and a son, a child and his family, and the breadth of friends, helpers, and doctors that step in when the unexpected happens. It's a story that will make young readers reevaluate the word 'normal'--not only as it applies to others, but to themselves. Any book that can do that is pretty wondrous, as far as I'm concerned." --R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder Normal. Who is to say what this word means? For Magda Newman, it was a goal. She wanted her son Nathaniel to be able to play on the playground, swim at the beach, enjoy the moments his friends took for granted. But Nathaniel's severe Treacher Collins syndrome--a craniofacial condition--meant that other concerns came first. Could he eat without the aid of a gastrointestinal tube? Could he hear? Would he ever be able to breathe effortlessly? But Nathaniel looks at "normal" from a completely different perspective. In this uplifting and humorous memoir that includes black-and-white comic illustrations, mother and son tell the story of his growing up--from facing sixty-seven surgeries before the age of fifteen, to making friends, moving across the country, and persevering through hardships. How they tackle extraordinary circumstances with love and resilience is a true testament to Magda and Nathaniel's family, and to families everywhere who quietly but courageously persist.

The Myth of Normal

Author: Gabor Maté, MD
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 059308389X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Book Description
The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing. In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

Normal

Author: Magdalena Newman
Publisher: Harvest
ISBN: 1328593126
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Book Description
Normal. Who is to say what this word means? For Magda Newman, it was a goal. She wanted her son Nathaniel to be able to play on the playground, swim at the beach, enjoy the moments his friends took for granted. But Nathaniel's severe Treacher Collins syndrome-- a craniofacial condition-- meant that other concerns came first. But Nathaniel looks at 'normal' from a completely different perspective. Here, mother and son tell the story of their family-- from Nathaniel facing sixty-seven surgeries before the age of fifteen, to making friends, moving across the country, and persevering through hardships. -- adapted from jacket