Longing for Normal - Softcover

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. Booklist March 2015

A boy and girl unite an immigrant community and rebuild their families–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. Meanwhile, Alli just wants to meet her foster-mother's new baby, a baby that she considers her sister. But life is hard.

When she married Griff Winston, Marj Winston hadn’t bargained on being the single mother of a twelve-year-old boy; when Griff dies suddenly, she's left with a big decision: should she adopt Eliot or not? 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. When Alli's foster-mother got pregnant, the family decided they didn't want a foster-child any longer. Alli understands; she just wants to meet the baby she had considered her new sister. She just wants to see her and then she'll leave them alone. As but as the deadlines near for the Bread Project, for Marj to sign Eliot's adoption papers, and the birth of Alli's foster-sister draws nearer, Eliot and Alli find it harder and harder to hang on to hope.

In the tradition of Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt, this story follows two kids who search for a family and a home.

Bread Project

Eliot's Dad was an expert sourdough baker, and used a starter that had been in the family for decades. Sourdough starter has wild yeast and bacteria that leaves an acid gives off an acid that creates the sour taste. Griff Winston, the school nurse, was one of the most love people in the community. His sourdough bread loaves were legendary, and everyone supported his Bread Project as a fund-raiser. One student will get a container of sourdough, which they will feed with flour and water. The next week, the first student splits the dough and gives one cup of starter to the next student. The next week, two students give away starter--while still feeding their own, so there are four students with sourdough starter. Each week, the number of students with starter doubles: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512. In ten short weeks, the whole student body will have sour dough starter, just in time for Thanksgiving. Families are asked to bake something with the sourdough, and bring it to a silent auction. With a strong immigrant population, there will be sourdough pita, English muffins, pancakes, challah, French bread, cinnamon rolls, pretzels, Brioche, bagels, Bruschetta al pomodore, raisin bread, cinnamon rolls, Kaiser rolls, potato rolls. Loaves of rye breads, whole wheat breads, just plain white loaves. Focaccia. Dutch Crunch. Everything from A to Z: Anadama to Zucchini-Carob Bread.

To convince his step-mother to adopt him, Eliot only has a container of sourdough, a complicated Bread project, and hope. Will it be enough?