Today we are excited to share a guest post from author Jennifer Salvato Doktorski (Finding Normal)!
Read on for more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
About the Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Jennifer Salvato Doktorski received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the author of five young adult novels: HOW MY SUMMER WENT UP IN FLAMES (Simon Pulse); FAMOUS LAST WORDS (Holt), a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year for 2014; THE SUMMER AFTER YOU & ME (Sourcebooks), a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten nominee; AUGUST & EVERYTHING AFTER, and FINDING NORMAL (Fitzroy Books 2025). She has published articles and essays in national magazines including Cosmopolitan and began her writing career on the obit desk of a local newspaper, where she learned the importance of deadlines and developed a lifelong love of news and coffee. She lives with her family in New Jersey and spends summers “down the shore,” where everything is always all right.
Website * Facebook * Instagram * Goodreads
About the Book: Finding Normal
There are five towns in the U.S. named “Normal” and seventeen-year-old Gemma Leonardo plans on visiting every one of them. Right after she escapes Children’ s Hospital in Harrisburg, where she’ s being treated for anorexia. Enter Lucas Polizzi, a high school wrestler with bulimia and, more importantly to Gemma, a getaway car. Sick of being told they’re sick, Gemma and Lucas team up for a themed road trip to “the Normals” on one condition— they can’ t mention food, ever. But as each passing mile puts their lives at greater risk, they soon realize it is their growing love and friendship, not a place on a map, that will put them on the path to recovery.
Publishers Weekly starred review “Doktorski (How My Summer Went Up in Flames) balances humorous banter with teenage hijinks and heartfelt conversations to deliver a propulsive road-trip novel that showcases white-cued characters refusing to be defined by their hardships forging new paths forward.”
~Guest Post by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski~
FINDING NORMAL is my fifth young adult novel. In November, I got the opportunity to do something I’ve never done before as an author. I met with 10 members of the teen book club at my local library, all of whom had read the ARC of this book. Their questions and comments were insightful and thoughtful, and it was a true pleasure to hear how many of them connected with the characters and understood my reasons for writing this book without me having to explain it.
Some of the early feedback I received from editors about this book indicated that readers would not be interested in a book about eating disorders. Another common question was (tiny spoiler alert here), why does there have to be a raccoon in the book? Raccoons eat garbage, kill cats, spread rabies! Why didn’t you pick a cuter animal? I happen to think raccoons are adorable, but I’ll circle back to that.
First, this is not a book about eating disorders. It’s a book about two teens, Gemma and Lucas, on a journey to find love and acceptance. Yes, they both have a potentially deadly disease—eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of any mental illness. But their diseases do not define them. Nor does the shape and size of their bodies. An estimated 30 million Americans will experience an eating disorder at some point in the lives. Eating disorders affect people of every age, race, gender, sex, body type and sexual orientation. Anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia, ARFID, and all forms of disordered eating are misunderstood diseases, but it is my hope that someday we will be as comfortable talking about them as we are about cancer, diabetes, heart disease, addiction, and all other mental illnesses. People struggling to recover from disordered eating deserve love, support, respect, and understanding, not shame, judgment, or blame.
One of the teens I met with in November, confided that they had had an eating disorder and reading this book made them feel less alone. Another commented on how raccoons are unlovable to some people because of their appearance and drew the connection between how Gemma and Lucas felt about their bodies and Chester, the raccoon in my story.
It’s an honor and a gift to be able to write and publish books for teens. I remember being that age and hoping that one day I would grow up to be the kind of adult who never forgot what it was like to be a teen. Because even though it’s one of the most confusing and emotional times in our lives, teens get things in a way that adults do not.
Title: FINDING NORMAL
Author: JENNIFER SALVATO DOKTORSKI
Illustrator: C.B. ROYAL
Release Date: JAN. 21, 2025
Publisher: Fitzroy/Regal House
ISBN-10: 1646035631
ISBN-13: 978-1646035632
Genre: Young Adult
Age Range: 12 years and up
*Giveaway Details*
One (1) winner will receive a signed copy of the limited special edition hardback of Finding Normal (Jennifer Salvato Doktorski), plus giveaway swag! ~ US/CAN ONLY!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway!*
