The Last Exit to Normal

Harmon, Michael. "The Last Exit to Normal", Knopf, 2008. Differences Amos Lassen When Ben Campbell's father announced that he was gay, it was the end of the Campbell family. Ben was just fourteen when that happened and his life had been fine but with the announcement Ben began doing anything he could to upset his dad--he smoked pot, he skateboarded all of the time, began cutting school and even got arrested. To his surprise his dad moved to a small town in Montana with Edward, his boyfriend and took Ben with him. Things were not easy for Ben and in the new setting he met Billy, the boy next door who in Ben's mind is hiding something. To make things even more difficult, Rough Butte, Montana was extremely homophobic and Ben is there with two dads. Edward's mother, Miss Mae takes in upon herself to teach Ben how to be a small town guy. She does manage to get Ben to behave but Ben was frustrated. Life was hard for Ben and things were complicated so he spent time worrying that his neighbor was the victim of abuse. He took it upon himself to seek help and this brought about new problems. Michael Harmon gives us the story of a young man who just cannot seem to fit anywhere and in doing so gives us a sensitive story about being different. He deals with difficult issues with wonderfully drawn characters and an unpredictable story line. Harmon writes with a brilliance that we do not often find in young adult novels and the book is filled with suspense, action and humor. I am not sure that I would classify this as a gay novel even though two of the major characters are gay and one of the subplots deals with homophobia. Instead I would say that this is a book about dealing with changes and self-discovery.

I am a high school librarian, and I am constantly looking for good YA books to recommend to my students. This books fits the bill and more! Before the story begins, we find out that Ben's father came home and announced that he was gay; Ben's mother flew the coop; Ben's father's friend Edward moved in, and Ben went wild and did terrible things in a three-year rebellion period. When the story opens, Ben's wild period has ended, albeit with a police record, and, desperate to help their son, Ben's dad and "momdad" have moved kit and caboodle back to Edward's hometown of Rough Butte, Montana, to live with Edward's ancient mother, Miss Mae. While the story is filled with typical city-boy-moves-to-country gaffes and humor, it is also a poignant story of seventeen-year-old Ben's getting to know not only himself, but also his dad and Edward. Under Miss Mae's hawk-like eyes, Ben learns about hard work and the value of money. The humorous episodes, i.e., his first shopping trip to buy Wranglers and a Stetson, his first bird hunting outing, and his first experience of baling hay, are interspersed just enough to lighten the mood and keep the serious stuff from getting too heavy. And there is some really heavy stuff going on in Rough Butte. Between the redneck neighbor who beats his son and locks him in the closet, the psycho who does not like Ben coming along and dating his former girlfriend and vows to stop it in any way possible, and an overturned tractor which lands on it driver, Ben finds plenty of drama in Rough Butte. I read this book very quickly because I wanted to know what happened. I enjoyed it a lot, and I know that the kids will also. I highly recommend it not only for teenagers, but also for adults!

I laughed out loud at this book! And I cried like a baby at parts. All of the defense mechanisms the son of a gay father might have are present and IN YOUR FACE in Ben, the 17 year old narrator of this story. The characters are amazing - Ben, who has done everything he can to show his Dad just how pissed off he is; Edward, Ben's "momdad" (his Dad's partner); Miss Mae, the shrewd-tongued matriarch of Edward's family who won't take Ben's garbage; and the sweet, solid girl-down-the-block that Ben falls for. Loved it!!

Michael Harmon's THE LAST EXIT TO NORMAL tells of Ben, whose life has been chaos ever since his father told him he was gay - and pulled him out of a troubled city life to move to a small town in Eastern Montana to live with him and his boyfriend. Ben's investigations of trouble at a house next door reveals a small town secret which is dangerous and challenging to all in this moving story of differences and change.

Michael Harmon has a great way of dealing with difficult subjects. I especially enjoyed that the author represented the main characters point of view in such an intelligent way. The dry humor was so refreshing. Like, wearing Wranglers for the first time after being a "skater". Duct tape? Ouch! This book would be enjoyed by either gender. The story has everything I expect a really great book to have. Excellent, don't miss it.