The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman

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If you're after a heart-warming book filled to the brim with hope and humanity, then Julietta Henderson's charming The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman should be your next read . . . A life-affirming tale. * CultureFly * courtesy IMDB (c) Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) Halloween would not be Halloween without Scooby-Doo! somewhere in the hauntingly spooky and hilariously freaky mix and, of course, solving a great mystery which in the case of 1999’s Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost is literally bewitching one quaint New England town. The Continue Reading The writer brings the reader along on Norman and his mother Sadie's journey—both of them are grappling with grief, Norman's from the present and Sadie's from the past. Over the course of the book, the two learn that grief need not define their lives; the message is that joy can always be found, even following the depths of sorrow (Hilary D). Although there is pathos and sadness surrounding the loss of Norman's best friend and comedy partner, Jax, there is love and growth and friendship and stamina and determination (Ginny H)... continued Sadie is caught off-guard by Norman’s announcements, but seeing him get excited about something, anything, makes it impossible for her to refuse to go along with his plan. Filled with fear and trepidation, she agrees to a road trip to Edinburgh, planned by her elderly but sharp friend Leonard. Reminiscent of the movie Little Miss Sunshine, the trio set out on an adventure with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

One Never Knows - Anyhow, ‘ one never knows’ means, that no matter how much you ‘ think’ you know, even if you go to university and get honours in astrophysics and make a moped that can get you to Venus, which by the way one of Jax’s actual ideas - minus the honours degree, the one thing you’ll never be able to know is the future. Not even what’s going to happen in the very next second. No matter how many guesses or phone-a-friends you had. We know that moving on is inevitable but we also feel guilty, as Norman does, that we are somehow doing a disservice to the person we have lost by not dwelling in that grief forever. Sadie always put up with very naughty Jax because he had a certain lightness about him and laughed a lot and made Norman laugh. The two boys were never bored. Now though?

Reader Reviews

Norman's mum Sadie knows she won't win Mother of the Year anytime soon, and she really doesn't know, or care, who Norman's father is. But her heart is broken when she discovers her grieving son's revised plan- 'Find Dad' and 'Get to the Edinburgh Fringe'. This book goes on my list of all-time Top Ten. I could not stop recommending it to people right after I read it last year. It is tender, heart-warming - without being treacly or saccharine. - and very well-written. Norman will grab your heart. Sadie is the single mother of twelve-year-old Norman Foreman. They live in Cornwall, where Norman was a pretty lonely kid until he and wild child Jax became inseparable best mates when they were six. They loved comedy shows and jokes. They had a Five-Year Plan, much of it devised by Jax, to develop a comedy duo and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe when they are fifteen. On title alone, you could be forgiven for thinking that The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson is one of those deliciously escapist slice-of-life British adventures where idiosyncratically good things happen to people who really need some good to come into their beleaguered lives. Norman and Ajax have a plan. A five year plan to perform their comedy act at the Edinburgh Fringe. But as we all know plans have a way of going haywire. Certainly that is the case when Jax dies at not even twelve years old. How will Norman cope without his best friend and comedy partner? As if Norman doesn’t already have enough to deal with, with the psoriasis that plagues his body that makes life extremely hard. Sadie has no idea how to help her precious son. That is until she sees that the plan has changed. Now it says , ‘ Look after Mum, Find Dad’ and ‘Get to the Edinburgh Fringe.’ Sadie, is determined to do her best to make the last two of those three things happen. With the help of elderly Leonard and his blue vintage Austin they set off on their quest. Will Norman be able to hold it together without Jax? Will Sadie find which of several candidates could be Norman’s father? Life is not without a few more surprises for Norman, Sadie and Leonard,

Norman and Sadie are characters so likeable that I just wanted to give them a huge hug as they journeyed on their adventure to The Fringe via Bournemouth and Barnstaple. Norman Foreman had never had a friend until Jax Fenton came into his life. The two were inseparable, more like brothers than best friends. They wanted to be comedians, a double act and as such they wrote a five-year plan at ten years old which included performing at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they were fifteen. Throughout it all the grief is palpable and it's relateable but it's not overwhelming because it's offset with generous helpings of love, humour, a bit of sillines and plenty of hope. It's a story with a really lovely message and I thoroughly recommend this book. All of the characters were written brilliantly, they almost seemed like real people. As if I might switch on the TV and actually see Norman on a comedy channel or walk past Leonard in the street, but my favourite character was Big Al, he has a heart of gold!

Let’s face it, it could have been dreadful: a twelve-year-old boy with psoriasis dreams of doing a comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe with his best friend (who is the funny one) but the best friend dies suddenly. His single mum and her very elderly friend decide to help him do a Fringe show anyway, and try to find out who his father is, to boot. It could be sloppy, sentimental, manipulative drivel and I’m not even sure why I tried it, to be honest – but I’m glad I did because it’s nothing of the kind. Part of what makes it so good is the narrative voices of both Norman and his mum, Sadie. Both are convincing, insightful in their own ways and amusing, too. Norman’s slightly naive but thoughtful and often funny take on things (like the grief of losing your best and only friend) is both powerful and very engaging, as is Sadie’s angst-ridden parental outlook. Julietta Henderson manages to avoid sentimentality to a great extent (I was especially impressed with the way she dealt with the book’s climax of The Show itself) and shows us two people dealing with real difficulties and growing, while avoiding the trite, hammered-home Life Lessons which so often pollute books like this. The search for Norman’s dad is well done, I think, although the ending does get pretty ridiculous and perhaps just spills over into schmaltz a little – but I could forgive that because much of the book is so good.

Sensational debut by Australian writer Julietta Henderson... This is one novel that meaningfully earns the description of "feel-good".' Apple Books Review If you are an inveterate reader, the odds are good, better than good actually, that fellow readers or close friends (sometimes, happily, they are both) that at some point they will recommend a book to you. A book, they will assure you with a mix of solemnity and enthusiasm, is Continue ReadingJAX AND NORMAN’S FIVE YEAR PLAN. Edinburgh Fringe 2023: For One Night Only –Norman and Jax –Teenage Comedy Geniuses!!! Steps: Lightly yet movingly realised, The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman is one of those rare novels that is both whimsically sweet and soberingly sad, testament to the way in which life is rarely straightforward or cut and dried, with the good and the bad mixing together often in what feels like an unholy and bewildering mess.

I have heard great things about this book. I am glad to see that you concur with other readers. Great review. If you told me that I'd enjoy a book about a boy whose dream is to become a comedian, I wouldn't have believed you. The funny thing is I don't particularly like comedians, blame it on my poor sense of humour, but this book had me laughing out loud. I enjoyed the humour, the banter and the Foremans and all their uniqueness. With short chapters, dual POV and witty characters, this book has gotten under my skin. There's so much more to this story than just a boy wanting to become a comedian. We see Norman transform in front of our eyes, from a boy grieving his best friend to becoming confident and radiating happiness. Sadie is a single parent and has always felt that she isn't a good enough mother to Norman, but we see how her character develops and changes as she and Norman embark on a road trip.

Beyond the Book

All the ingredients for a funny, heartwarming, moving and quirky story were here....a lovable young main character who has lost someone very precious to him, a loving, but possibly less than perfect Mum, an older man who is much more than he at first seems, clever and resourceful, a bit of a Knight in Shining Armour, but who also has his sadnesses and vulnerabilities. He's wheedled his way into my heart, and I suspect I'll have a Norman-shaped hole there forever' - Clare Pooley, author of The Authenticity Project