Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal

I picked up Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schreiber because I enjoy reading YA, and it had been selected for  Reese’s book club a few months ago. Ellie was born with a congenital condition known as VACTERL, which caused bone malformations, a missing kidney, and other internal complications. She has spent much of her life in and out of the hospital. Since infancy, her mother had blogged about Ellie’s condition, something Ellie resents as she does not want every detail of her medical and personal life documented for the world to see. As a result, she rigidly compartmentalizes her life, but those walls begin to fracture her friendships leaving her struggling to handle the fallout.
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I enjoyed this book. The characters felt well defined, and their actions, reactions, and conflicts were entirely believable. The relationships between the teens and their parents also rang true. I would definitely recommend this title for high school libraries.