Longing for Normal

Longing for Normal by Darcy Pattison A boy unites an immigrant community and rebuilds his family–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. But when she married Griff Winston, Marj hadn't bargained on being the single mother of a twelve-year-old boy. 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; but as the deadlines near for the Bread Project and for Marj to sign his adoption papers, Eliot finds 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. A Bread Project Takes Over the... After a family tragedy, it takes courage to keep going. It takes courage to fight for a home for yourself. Everything in Eliot's life, absolutely everything , depends on the amazing Bread Project. He can't let it fail. It means the difference between a forever family or going back to foster care. Then Alli comes crashing into his life. She's a scrawny girl who also needs a forever family. It's an unlikely friendship based on uniting an immigrant community through bread recipes from across the world‚ pan dolce, ciabatti, ekmek, naan, pretzels, poori, pita, English muffins, raisin bread, cinnamon rolls, Kaiser rolls, potato rolls, and much more. But a sourdough starter is a feeble weapon against the system. The unlikely friendship grows as the sourdough starter is passed to new students. In a pyramid scheme, each student should have starter by Thanksgiving. The goal is a huge bake sale to fund a new playground. As the bake sale approaches, Eliot and Alli encourage the community to come together, even as their lives are falling apart. Their forever homes seem like an unreachable dream. All they have left is hope, and a 150-year-old sourdough starter. A boy unites an immigrant community and rebuilds his family using a simple sourdough bread recipe