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Title details for Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schreiber - Available

Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal

by Gretchen Schreiber
Natalie Naudus
Audiobook
4 of 4 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
4 of 4 copies available

"Naudus brings emotion, life, and energy to the story...her expert range of voices helps the listener picture Ellie's friends and fellow residents at the hospital house. Her emotion-driven performance matches the heartfelt tone of the overall story and reels the reader in, ensuring the reader can empathize with Ellie, who is struggling to find her normal."—Booklist

The Breakfast Club meets Five Feet Apart in this big-hearted novel from debut author Gretchen Schreiber.
Ellie Haycock has always separated her life into sections: Ellie at home and Ellie at the hospital. At home, Ellie is a proud member of her high school's speech and debate team alongside her best friend and her boyfriend. At the hospital, Ellie has a team of doctors and a mom who won't stop posting about the details of her illness online. It's not hard for Ellie to choose which of the two she prefers.
But this latest hospital stay is different. Ellie becomes close with a group of friends, including Ryan, a first-timer who's still optimistic about the doctors that Ellie stopped trusting years ago. Despite their differences, she can't seem to keep him out of her head. Ellie's life has never been ordinary—but maybe this time it will be extraordinary.
A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 5, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781250330994
      • File size: 257859 KB
      • Duration: 08:57:12

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 27, 2023
      A white teen with a rare genetic condition that affects her vertebrae, anus, heart, trachea, esophagus, kidney, and limbs (VACTERL) seeks autonomy in Schreiber’s affirming debut, a budding teen romance that focuses on agency and autonomy. Guarded high school junior Eleanor Ruby Haycock—who is missing a kidney and was born with vertebral anomalies, cardiac issues, and a limb difference—shields her friends from “the realities of hospital life” and fears ostracism should classmates find her mother’s online blog, where she chronicles Ellie’s health progress. Ellie wants to “pretend to be normal,” win competitions with her debate teammates, and hang out with her boyfriend. Instead, she’s back at the hospital—and is startled to find herself connecting with (and crushing on) other patients, events that challenge her efforts to compartmentalize her relationships. Though awkward phrasing occasionally mires introspective prose, Schreiber, who also has VACTERL, employs witty banter and acerbic first-person narration to unravel complexities of disability identity as Ellie learns to self-advocate, redefines what “normal” means to her, and reckons with how chronic illness can affect relationships with others and oneself. Ages 12–up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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