Last Exit to Normal

Title Last Exit to Normal
Author Michael Harmon
Michael Harmon was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood riding his skateboard and BMX bike. His family moved to Spokane, WA where he learned to appreciate the outdoors even more. He is currently 37 years old and has two children. He is also the author of Skate.
ISBN 9780375840982
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright Date 2008
Reading Level/Interest Age 15+
Genre Issues: Sexual Identity; LGBT Fiction
Plot Summary
Ben Campbell is seventeen years old and he’s just been busted by the Spokane police after he slips back into his old ways. See, when Ben was fourteen, his dad came out of the closet and his mother left. Ben was angry and rebellious and lost himself in marijuana and a bad crowd. After trying to straighten up, one last act of rebellion forces his dad to decide that it’s time for a big change. They move with Edward, his dad’s boyfriend, to a tiny town in Montana to live with Edward’s elderly mother – a fresh start and, hopefully, a good place for Ben to learn a lesson about respect and maturity. But Ben, a city-boy at heart, doesn’t make it easy – mouthing off to Edward’s mom, causing trouble with their nasty neighbor and refusing to let go of the hurt and anger that he harbors towards his father for having a family and making him part of the lie. But when Ben meets Kim he starts to think that maybe living in Montana won’t be so bad after all.
Critical Evaluation
Michael Harmon has crafted a real gem in Last Exit to Normal. The plot line of “city boy sent to the country to straighten up” might have veered towards the cliché, but the addition of gay dads and Ben’s flawed, but ultimately good-hearted, character make it a page-turner. There are no easy answers in the book and all of the relationships and characters engaged in them are complicated and multi-faceted. By the end, though Ben and his father have come to a better understanding of each other, there is no cloying idea that things are perfect and it is this realism that truly makes this book stand out. A great book to recommend to teens, particularly those that might be dealing with LGBT parents and how to handle the particularly difficulties of a parent who comes out later in life and the painful divorce or separation that often follows.
Reader’s Annotation
Ben thought it was bad enough when his dad came out and his mother abandoned him. Little does he know that it’s about to get much worse when his dad decides to move the family to a rural town in Montana.
Curriculum Ties Could be tied into lessons about LGBT issues, tolerance and prejudice.
Booktalking Ideas
1. Do a first person narrative from Ben’s point of view, focusing on the pain he feels his dad has caused him.
Challenge Issues
Please see "Controversy & LGBT Teen Collections"
Why did I include this book?
Rainbow List Starred Pick (2009, ALA); I wanted to include at least one title that dealt with the issues of having a parent who is LGBT.