Longing for Normal

A boy unites an immigrant community and rebuilds his family–using a simple sourdough bread recipe.


Eliot Winston, a grieving son, must convince his new step-mother – now Griff Winston’s widow – to adopt him. But when she married Griff Winston, Marj hadn’t bargained on being the single mother of a twelve-year-old boy. Alli Flynn, a foster child new to the school, convinces Eliot that he must fight to keep his family intact and the best way to do that is to help Mrs. Winston with the Bread Project, a fund raising project for the school. With his whole future at stake, Eliot tries hard to please Marj; but as the deadlines near for the Bread Project and for Marj to sign his adoption papers, Eliot finds it harder and harder to hang on to hope.



Booklist Online Exclusive review: March 10, 2015

Two foster kids join forces to try and secure their forever families while keeping hope alive in the form of a sourdough bread starter. Eliot had three days of happiness before his adoptive father suddenly died, leaving behind a newlywed widow who isn’t sure she is ready to be a mom. Alli is bounced back into the system after an accident nearly causes her long-term foster mom to lose her unborn child. The unlikely friends bond over Eliot’s deceased dad’s idea to raise money for the school, using a pyramid scheme to pass along sourdough bread starter that students’ families will use to bake and sell bread to fund a new playground. While parts of the plot are merely sketched—the school doesn’t seem desperate for a new playground, for instance—Pattison’s characters provide a reason to keep reading. In voices old before their time, due to years in the system, they describe their desperate attempts to stay relevant to the adults in their lives. A rare book featuring foster kids in realistic scenarios.
— Erin Downey Howerton



About the Author

At family gatherings, Darcy Pattison was known for baking great breads until she discovered she needed a gluten-free diet. Now she only bakes bread in her stories instead. Published in eight languages, her middle grade novels include: Saucy and Bubba: A Hansel and Gretel Tale; The Girl, the Gypsy and the Gargoyle; and Vagabond. Recent nature books for children include: Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma: The True Story of an Orphaned Cub, a 2015 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book; Wisdom, the Midway Albatross, a Starred Review in Publisher’s Weekly; Desert Baths (Arbordale), a 2013 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book; and, Prairie Storms (Arbordale). Her series, The ALIEN, INC. CHAPTER BOOK SERIES includes Kell, the Alien; Kell and the Horse Apple Parade; Kell and the Giants; and Kell and the Detectives. For more, see darcypattison.com/about