Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal

There was a lot going on in this book and had darker themes than I expected. I'm entirely sure if I am just outgrowing YA, but I still enjoyed this one! Ellie has chronic medical issues and to compartmentalize, she fully keeps her life separated - in the hospital and out of the hospital. Her mother copes but running a blog and posting everything about it online. While Ellie is at the hospital, those are the friends she associates with, but she never mixes that with her friends at school. At some point, Ellie is having trouble as her two lives are trying to mix and she doesn't know how to cope with that. She has always had clear boundaries for herself, but as her relationships get deeper and people seem to have more expectations for her - she doesn't know how to combine the two worlds she has made for herself. I did enjoy the commentary throughout this book. I do think it is a powerful and important read - I just don't know that I am in the target audience anymore. I did feel like things could have been a lot simpler, but I think reading it at a younger age I would've found Ellie more relatable and her reasonings very valid. Personally, not for me, but still think this would be a great read for many people.

I listened to the audio version of this book narrated by Natalie Naudus. The narration was superb and easy to listen to (aside from the few times the character screams in frustration). This is a book about a teenager (YA) with a disability written by a young woman with that same disability. It is her debut novel and a wonderful one at that! This really put you into the life of someone with this very visible disability and the very real effort of trying to balance the disability and also try to maintain as normal a life as possible. The teenager, Ellie, is your average teenager in that she wants her own space and for her parents to butt out of her life. That is a little harder for her. Her mother has been writing a blog about her and about taking care of her for many years. Ellie's bad moments and struggles are out there for anyone to see. I loved this aspect, because I have always puzzled over the people that put picture after picture of their disabled child online. Ms. Schreiber really showed how upsetting and unfair that can be to the child. The book focuses on Ellie and her friends. She has hospital friends and school friends and keeps them well separated. She struggles to see how hurtful that is for them and how supportive all of her friends could be if she would just let them into her life more. Teenage years are tough and so much tougher if you don't fit the "norm". Ellie learned some life lessons in the story and matured a little along the way. A great story! Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the copy. All thoughts are my own.