Seriously, Norman by Chris Raschka (mg)
342 p. Michael DiCapua Books/ Scholastic. October, 2011. 978-0-545-29877-3. (Chosen to review for NJSL Book Evaluation (Inflolink).
When twelve-year-old Norman Normann seriously bombs his Amalgamated Academic Independent City Schools Test, a high stakes entrance exam, his parents, Orman and Norma, hire a tutor, Mr. Balthazar Birdsong to prepare him for the next exam. Nominally, his father sells airplanes, but Norman begins to suspect something more sinister and with the help of his best friend, investigates. All the while, Mr. Birdsong assigns dictionary reading and instructs Norman to observe the sky.
The humor runs the gamut from high to potty. There’s plenty of sly social commentary woven in with manic wordplay into a rather random and meandering plot that may not hold the average middle grade reader’s interest. This is Chris Raschka’s debut novel. He has already proven that he is a master of few words, as in the Caldecott Honor, Yo! Yes? and no words, as in the Caldecott Award winning A Ball for Daisy. Here, even his perky and humorous spot art couldn’t hold interest/ focus.