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A review by sde
Oddly Normal: One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality by John R. Schwartz
3.0
I read several good reviews of this book, so I snatched it off the shelf when I saw it at the library. I groaned at the first few pages - the author seemed to employ all the stereotypes of gay children. But this improved as the book went on, and he and his wife really are sympathetic parents.
The book is a story of their young son not only dealing with his sexual orientation, but a number of other emotional and learning issues that may or may not have been caused or exacerbated by his sexual orientation. I was drawn into this part of the book. The chapters that dealt with legalities, public policy and medical science were not as strong. Because they were just part of the author's larger personal story, they could only begin to touch on the issues, yet had too much info to merely support the narrative. I think it would have been a stronger book if he had omitted those chapters and only used pieces of info from them to inform his family's story.
What I found most intriguing was his discussion of his family's interaction with the school system. The family lives in one of the highest ranked school districts in the country, yet the lack of communication with parents was horrendous. The parents learned a lot over the years on how to advocate for their son, and I would love to see the couple write a book on this specific subject. By the end of the book I feel they had reached an excellent balance of being very supportive of their son and watchful of the school system to make sure their son was getting what he needed/was entitled to without being overbearing. I think other parents could really benefit from hearing more about their experience and tips for dealing with school systems.
Obviously, the parents know their child much better than I do from a short book, but the way the book was written, I felt like the author was pointing to his son's sexuality as the source of all his problems, but it didn't read that way from the book. There were many other things going on with this kid that the schools should have been addressing better even if they didn't address his sexuality.
It sounds like the author's wife did a herculean job in supporting her son, and I admired her. At the end of the book the author acknowledges that his wife really co-wrote the book with him. So my question is, why isn't her name on the cover too?
The book is a story of their young son not only dealing with his sexual orientation, but a number of other emotional and learning issues that may or may not have been caused or exacerbated by his sexual orientation. I was drawn into this part of the book. The chapters that dealt with legalities, public policy and medical science were not as strong. Because they were just part of the author's larger personal story, they could only begin to touch on the issues, yet had too much info to merely support the narrative. I think it would have been a stronger book if he had omitted those chapters and only used pieces of info from them to inform his family's story.
What I found most intriguing was his discussion of his family's interaction with the school system. The family lives in one of the highest ranked school districts in the country, yet the lack of communication with parents was horrendous. The parents learned a lot over the years on how to advocate for their son, and I would love to see the couple write a book on this specific subject. By the end of the book I feel they had reached an excellent balance of being very supportive of their son and watchful of the school system to make sure their son was getting what he needed/was entitled to without being overbearing. I think other parents could really benefit from hearing more about their experience and tips for dealing with school systems.
Obviously, the parents know their child much better than I do from a short book, but the way the book was written, I felt like the author was pointing to his son's sexuality as the source of all his problems, but it didn't read that way from the book. There were many other things going on with this kid that the schools should have been addressing better even if they didn't address his sexuality.
It sounds like the author's wife did a herculean job in supporting her son, and I admired her. At the end of the book the author acknowledges that his wife really co-wrote the book with him. So my question is, why isn't her name on the cover too?