The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon (2009-2010)
Since his father came out and his mother left, spiky-haired skateboarder Ben Campbell has gotten into trouble. In order to put him on the right path, his two dads move the family to rural Montana where city-born Ben finds animal carcasses, trucks, a tough country grandma, a cute farm girl, a town villain, and a troubled kid.
I really liked the last exit to normal because it was very realistic. To me it’s a good book for many teens to read due to the fact that Ben is in a very deep situation. This book grasped my attention, and I thought it was very meaningful. I connected with this book seeing I had a friend that was gay. He didn’t know how to tell his parents and it really affected his life. He didn’t do well in school, smoked, and was arrested constantly. I think it was interesting how the author set up the setting in a quiet place. I wouldn’t think that people would be outspoken due to the fact that not many people lived there .I wonder why the author made Miss Mae so important in Ben’s life. I say this because she would beat him with a wooden spoon, and kick him out her house for being bad. Ben didn’t really think she liked him but in the end he noticed she did it out of love, and she cared.
ReplyDelete(J.b, 10th grade, ATC)
I liked The Last Exit To Normal, because the book grabbed my attention. It taught me a lesson the some people may judge others by what they are. I like how the author set up the book, because Ben was trying to figure out his life while fixing it. A connection I made is that I had a friend and we were really close. She told me she was bi and didn’t know how to tell her parents. It effected her life because like Ben she started to smoke, and she had a hard time focusing on school. I liked Ben as a character because he tried to find his mom and he was interested in where he came from. I wonder why his father decided to be gay though.
ReplyDelete(n.f. 10th grade ATC)
I think the book The Last Exit to Normal was an exciting book and easy to relate to. It comes from the point of view of a teenage kid. Alot of people in America are homosexual so they are facing problems just like Ben in the book. He is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that his dad is homosexual. Also kids aren’t use to homosexual people and they think that they are different. The theme of the book is that homosexual people aren’t so different than the so called normal people. The characters in the story are really intising by that they all have personalities that conflict each other. Like Ben isn’t use tohomosexual people and this causes him to get in a lot of trouble. While his father wants him to behave and not treat him differently because he is homosexual. I think that this book will get use to homosexual people because it makes you realize that they aren’t really different from us. So, if you like a book with suspense, romance, and action then this book is for you. This book is especially readable to teenagers of any age.
ReplyDelete(T.D.10th Grade, ATC)
I really liked the Last Exit to Normal because it seemed to be very realistic. Most of the things that go on in the book basically go on in real life. Yes parents can be gay and I have experienced that because I have met plenty of boys that figured out that they wanted to live their life as a homosexual. I didn’t mind but Ben really did. He showed it through all the bad things he did. Ben’s dad, Paul and Paul’s boyfriend, Edward decided to get Ben out of his bad habits and move him to the country which was a good idea for the author to do. Ben was basically a crack head. All he did was smoke, smoke pot, and etc. The setting, I think was very important to the book because if they stayed where they were living the story wouldn’t go anywhere. He would just stay in his bad influence and then the author would most likely lose his reader. But one thing I really wanted to know was how bad would have Ben’s life gotten if they didn’t move from out of their actual home.
ReplyDelete(E.L., 10th Grade, ATC)
The book, The Last Exit to Normal, is about a young boy who has had a bad past, because of his parents’ divorce, and him finding out his father is gay. He picked up smoking weed, and stop attending school so he, his father, and his father’s life partner went to the country so there would be less distractions. At first, Ben looks at this change as a boring and not needed experience, but as he becomes accustomed to the lifestyle of the country he learns important life lessons. I related to this story, because I understand that life can get off track when you get into the wrong crowd. The only question I had at the end of this story is how Ben and his new girlfriend end up. Did they stay together? Or did they break up? I recommend this book to people who like a good read, and who are willing to change their ways for a better life.
ReplyDelete(Z.L, 10th grade, ATC)