WAITING FOR NORMAL, by Leslie Connor


Addie is my hero!

Addie, the main character of Leslie Connor’s book WAITING FOR NORMAL, has such a strong voice and a warm heart she reached out from the page and pulled me, heart and all, into her story. I prayed, I cried (seriously,) and I cheered for Addie to find her place. Leslie Connor weaves her cast of unique characters together in Kate DiCamillo fashion. This beautiful story reminds us; even small acts of kindness can make a hero out of us all.

I’m fortunate to have her, and so many other amazing authors, as fellow members in our local SCBWI group. And we will have some celebrating to do at our February meeting because on January 26, her book, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, was named the winner of the middle-school 2009 Schneider Family Book Award. The American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners during their Denver Meeting last week. The award honors authors and illustrators for “the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”

Congrats Leslie!

To read the full story and find out who the other winners were visit the ALA site here.

3 comments:

  1. Well-deserved award. I absolutely loved this book too! You're lucky to be SCBWI chapter-mates.

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  2. Wow, Paula, how awesome that you know her and what a wonderful award. I haven't read the book but you've inspired me! Thanks for the heads up! :)

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  3. The book sounds awesome. I just read the excerpt and reviews on amazon ... must get my hands on it soon. Ditto, what Annette said about being chapter-mates with her.

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