{"id":4755,"date":"2018-09-01T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-09-01T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=4755"},"modified":"2021-07-06T13:45:40","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T20:45:40","slug":"12-steps-to-normal-teen-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2018\/12-steps-to-normal-teen-review\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Steps to Normal — Teen Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

review by\u00a0Kara Eng, age 19<\/p>\n

12 Steps to Normal\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by\u00a0Farrah Penn<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a012 Steps to Normal<\/i><\/b> is the story of how Kira returns to Cedarville, Texas to live with her father, a recovering alcoholic. Kira wants to start right where she left off and so creates a plan to get her life back to \u201cnormal.\u201d However, Kira\u2019s plan seems to be thrown off when she comes back to find that her father has invited his fellow recoverees to stay with him. <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is a coming-of-age story; however, it is hard to view Kira as a relatable teenager. At times the dialogue does not seem realistic, making some of the decisions that Kira made unrealistic and frustrating. The conversations that Kira has with others seem a little forced and cartoonish (most teens don\u2019t use this many filler words). Kira\u2019s situation isn\u2019t necessarily easy to empathize with, but better inner dialogue and reasoning would have made the book more believable. <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On the other hand, Kira\u2019s struggle with forgiving and trusting her father\u2019s addiction is a relatively unique subject. Not many other books touch on these subjects and the way that <\/span>12 Steps to Normal<\/i><\/b> explores them is done well. It doesn\u2019t just follow Kira\u2019s father\u2019s recovery, it also follows that of his friends and Kira\u2019s own journey back to \u201cnormalcy.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a heart-warming story. Kira\u2019s character development is great. You get to follow Kira\u2019s journey into acceptance and maturity. She goes from frustrating to believable\/likeable as the novel progresses. On the other hand, Kira is really the only character. Kira\u2019s \u201ctwelve steps to normal\u201d has each step focus on a certain person in her life and her relationship with them. However, some characters seem to have been created for the sole purpose of going on her list and don\u2019t add much to the story afterwards. These characters are realistic and likeable, but they seem a little shallow. Most characters in <\/span>12 Steps to Normal<\/i><\/b> feel like props. <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Overall, I would give <\/span>12 Steps to Normal<\/i><\/b> a 2.5\/5. \u00a0While dialogue and characters aren\u2019t the best, the subject matter and plot give the book a compelling draw. It\u2019s a lighter read that you can pick up and leave as you please. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Find this book in our catalog: 12 Steps to Normal\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Catalog Number: YA FIC PENN,F<\/p>\n

369 pages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

review by\u00a0Kara Eng, age 19 12 Steps to Normal\u00a0by\u00a0Farrah Penn \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a012 Steps to Normal is the story of how Kira returns to Cedarville, Texas to live with her father, a recovering alcoholic. Kira wants to start right where she left off and so creates a plan to get her life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":4756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-teen-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2018\/08\/12-steps-to-normal.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-1eH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1682,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2015\/anyone-can-be-successful-short-story-by-julia-nail\/","url_meta":{"origin":4755,"position":0},"title":"Anyone Can Be Successful — short story by Julia Nail","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"April 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"One City, One Story 2015 \"Tell Your Story\" Contest Category: \u00a0Grade 9-12 2nd place Anyone Can Be Successful by Julia\u00a0Nail, Grade 9 \u00a0 Kira came to the United States of America because her family was seeking a better life. 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