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Torn from Normal
Torn from his normal life by a double tragedy, Andy Riley finds himself living on the beach with street kids. When a robbery goes wrong, the kids attack him. A blue Porsche races to the rescue driven by the man his friends tried to rob. Danny has had many foster brothers over the years and knows his father won't leave a kid bleeding in an alley all alone. They bring Andy home and discover a boy in the depths of despair. Danny welcomes Andy as a new brother, eager to soothe his own loneliness and offer his help and friendship. An abusive aunt, eager for the government check to support her nephew, demands custody of Andy. The loss of his new family is more than he can bear. When he disappears, Danny and Marvin hurry to find him, before it s too late. "
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
5 people want to read
About the author
Martin Bartloff
2 books5 followersMartin Bartloff Born in Werl, a small town in the North Rhine-Westphalia province of Germany, Martin was the youngest of five boys. As a child he strived to better himself and entertain others. Anything that had wheels fascinated him and he organized and performed dare-devil bicycle events in his neighborhood. Martin earned two European trade school diplomas before vacationing in the United States in August of 1991, a vacation he never returned from. He settled on the Virginia coastline where his fascination with all things vehicular led him to open his own European automotive business in 1994. To satisfy his need to entertain, Martin began his career as an author in 2007. Today he lives with his teenage son, in Hampton, Virginia
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 14, 2010
A double tragedy causes a young man's life to spiral out of control. His only wish is to get rid of the pain by putting it behind him. Things begin to turn around for him when he meets Marvin and his son Danny under interesting circumstances. Going from complete strangers to a small family after a short period of time, Andy begins to rebuild his life with a new family who cares about him. Bowling, learning how to drive, and having a family give Andy back that spark that he was missing for so long. As things are looking up, Andy's life goes from happy go lucky to sad again.
Since Marvin and Danny are going away for vacation, Andy is sent to live with his Aunt Lily in Baltimore until he is of age. Though broken-hearted, Andy promised to comply with Marvin's request and boarded the train home. Things were not as they cracked up to be at his aunt's house. He wasn't her nephew, but a nuisance that brought in money every month from the government. Fed up with everything, Andy leaves his aunt's in search of his life. After taking many means of transportation, he returns to a familiar place...his home. To his dismay, a family has moved in and he watches the happy family interact with one another. With nowhere else to go...Andy returns to another familiar place.
On the other side of the globe, Marvin and his son Danny are having lots of fun with family on their vacation. Danny starts to feel that something is terribly wrong where Andy is, but he passed it off with more positive thoughts. What he didn't know was that he was right. Danny tries to get in touch with Andy to have his worst fears confirmed. Not knowing where Andy was, Marvin and Danny return home and start a drastic search. They hope and pray that Andy is okay, but once they find him...
Torn from Normal is a sad tale that goes through the ups and downs of Andy Riley. Thrown into a world he hardly knew after the death of his parents (though five years apart) is something many of us have gone through. Martin Bartloff has put together a story with depth and heart that could bring tears to a reader's eyes instantly. His use of imagery and language conveyed the story of this poor boy who didn't deserve the many horrible things that happened to him. I lost my mother 4 years ago to cancer and I never thought that I would be able to relate to a character before. I knew the feeling of fighting the pain of losing a loved one, and sadly it overpowered Andy at the end. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who has or hasn't lost a parent at a young age. Pain is still the same no matter what age, but to have someone there to share it with makes it much easier.
Since Marvin and Danny are going away for vacation, Andy is sent to live with his Aunt Lily in Baltimore until he is of age. Though broken-hearted, Andy promised to comply with Marvin's request and boarded the train home. Things were not as they cracked up to be at his aunt's house. He wasn't her nephew, but a nuisance that brought in money every month from the government. Fed up with everything, Andy leaves his aunt's in search of his life. After taking many means of transportation, he returns to a familiar place...his home. To his dismay, a family has moved in and he watches the happy family interact with one another. With nowhere else to go...Andy returns to another familiar place.
On the other side of the globe, Marvin and his son Danny are having lots of fun with family on their vacation. Danny starts to feel that something is terribly wrong where Andy is, but he passed it off with more positive thoughts. What he didn't know was that he was right. Danny tries to get in touch with Andy to have his worst fears confirmed. Not knowing where Andy was, Marvin and Danny return home and start a drastic search. They hope and pray that Andy is okay, but once they find him...
Torn from Normal is a sad tale that goes through the ups and downs of Andy Riley. Thrown into a world he hardly knew after the death of his parents (though five years apart) is something many of us have gone through. Martin Bartloff has put together a story with depth and heart that could bring tears to a reader's eyes instantly. His use of imagery and language conveyed the story of this poor boy who didn't deserve the many horrible things that happened to him. I lost my mother 4 years ago to cancer and I never thought that I would be able to relate to a character before. I knew the feeling of fighting the pain of losing a loved one, and sadly it overpowered Andy at the end. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who has or hasn't lost a parent at a young age. Pain is still the same no matter what age, but to have someone there to share it with makes it much easier.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2011
This was a case where I knew (somewhat remotely) the author before I read the book. Knowing Mr. Bartloff is a native German, I think I expected his novel to be somewhat... less American. I was wrong. Not only did it read like any other American book (in syntax, structure, language, etc.) it was profoundly right on with regard to today's American teens. The dialog, interests, dress, emotions--all rang true to this mother of 2 once-teen boys.
The story is well written, and has just the right amount of scene-shifting between periods of main character Andy Riley's life. Martin has done an excellent job of giving the reader just enough information to keep the pages turning as characters Andy, Danny and Danny's father struggle to improve Andy's life and keep him safe from harm. I forgot, until after I finished it, that TORN FROM NORMAL is a young adult title. As good as it is for teens, it's that good for adults as well.
This isn't a happy, feel-good book, but it is an important book. Don't read it if you have trouble dealing with tragic consequences that sometimes befall young people in today's harsh society. Do read it if you want to be enlightened to teen issues. I will definitely read more from Martin Bartloff. Great job, Martin!
The story is well written, and has just the right amount of scene-shifting between periods of main character Andy Riley's life. Martin has done an excellent job of giving the reader just enough information to keep the pages turning as characters Andy, Danny and Danny's father struggle to improve Andy's life and keep him safe from harm. I forgot, until after I finished it, that TORN FROM NORMAL is a young adult title. As good as it is for teens, it's that good for adults as well.
This isn't a happy, feel-good book, but it is an important book. Don't read it if you have trouble dealing with tragic consequences that sometimes befall young people in today's harsh society. Do read it if you want to be enlightened to teen issues. I will definitely read more from Martin Bartloff. Great job, Martin!
March 15, 2010
The book has a couple of minor drawbacks, neither of which could be helped. The first is multiple point-of-view characters, two main and another minor. The reason this HAD to be the case is one of the book's strengths; the reason it's a drawback is that Bartloff's characters are so real and reader identification with them is so strong, readers won't want to leave one to go to another. The other drawback is that the book could have used some detailed line editing. But that's small stuff.
TORN FROM NORMAL is the story of a young man whose life disintegrates through no fault of his own, and the story of another young man who could easily be in the same position, if circumstances were slightly different. Bartloff captures perfectly what it feels like to be on the edge of adulthood, how quickly and wildly a young person can veer from one maturity level to another, one emotion to another, one view of a situation to another.
I recommend this book for young people and adults who want to understand them.
TORN FROM NORMAL is the story of a young man whose life disintegrates through no fault of his own, and the story of another young man who could easily be in the same position, if circumstances were slightly different. Bartloff captures perfectly what it feels like to be on the edge of adulthood, how quickly and wildly a young person can veer from one maturity level to another, one emotion to another, one view of a situation to another.
I recommend this book for young people and adults who want to understand them.
July 23, 2011
I LOVE THIS BOOK TO DEATH!!! <3
September 29, 2017
What is normal?
This book begs the question of what normal really means. When your idea of normal is taken from you too soon. Finding yourself again can be impossible for some.
This book begs the question of what normal really means. When your idea of normal is taken from you too soon. Finding yourself again can be impossible for some.
November 5, 2012
Reviewed by John Jacobson aka "R.J. Jacobs" for TeensReadToo.com
The book starts out with Danny, who is overcome with immense sadness. His best friend, Andy, committed suicide. He sets out to tell that story, and begins to write, sending the reader off into the world of Andy Riley.
Andy Riley is a regular teenager. He has stress, friends, and a lot going on his life. So when he runs away from home, things are thrown out of proportion. He lives with his Aunt Lily, a completely disgusting personality who yells at him and amuses herself by sending her dog, Fido, out to torture him. She's couch bound and abusive, and he finds solace in leaving her behind.
While travelling as far away as he can, Andy thinks back to his best friend and his father, Marvin. They're like family to him. And he thinks back to how his entire life came about. His father, a trucker, has a heart attack and suddenly dies, leaving the family under a cover of depression. Andy's life starts out hard, and it doesn't get much better.
Bartloff gives us a lot of characters to work with, each interesting and compelling in their own sense. Andy's a difficult protagonist to work with - a thinker who loves to hop around from one place to another. Danny is our other big player; a very good friend to Andy, and intent on having him as a foster brother. The plot is much the same; filled with a veil of tragedy and sadness framed by the opening passage about Andy's eventual suicide.
While the premise of the book is very interesting, I myself could not get into it like I thought I would. The characters are fine enough, but they never really feel real, even Andy. His constant stream of tragedies felt so unheard of and humorless, that it felt too unreal. Not to mention, the book moves a lot in the first 50 pages alone, constantly streaming the readers new information about Andy's past. It's a lot to work with, and makes you wonder why the pacing is so fast for a subject that's meant to be examined.
Editing issues were also a big slowdown, with many areas needing a good comma or two in them. It wouldn't have been much of an issue, but the shear amount of grammatical editing that felt left out really made the experience bitter. Another minor quip was that the back cover left no suspense to the story. It felt as though I was building up to absolutely no surprises.
Despite these issues, Bartloff has gleams of great writing within the book. As many times as I cringed at a lack-of-comma, I also smiled at the placement of a thought-provoking metaphor or description. The description was one of the book's strongest aspects, working well with the protagonist's constant thoughtfulness, based on his situation. Some descriptions, however, tried to retain the voice of a teenager, and the working of the narrative made said descriptions seem more awkward than needed.
Overall, TORN FROM NORMAL was an interesting and thoughtful read that dealt with many hardened issues among teenagers today. Unfortunately, clunky grammar and some bad plot dealings bogged it down from being a really powerful read, despite some fairly interesting characters and descriptions. The subject of suicide still holds strong, and the message of treating people right will always be welcomed, though hopefully Barloff's next book will be a bit more polished.
The book starts out with Danny, who is overcome with immense sadness. His best friend, Andy, committed suicide. He sets out to tell that story, and begins to write, sending the reader off into the world of Andy Riley.
Andy Riley is a regular teenager. He has stress, friends, and a lot going on his life. So when he runs away from home, things are thrown out of proportion. He lives with his Aunt Lily, a completely disgusting personality who yells at him and amuses herself by sending her dog, Fido, out to torture him. She's couch bound and abusive, and he finds solace in leaving her behind.
While travelling as far away as he can, Andy thinks back to his best friend and his father, Marvin. They're like family to him. And he thinks back to how his entire life came about. His father, a trucker, has a heart attack and suddenly dies, leaving the family under a cover of depression. Andy's life starts out hard, and it doesn't get much better.
Bartloff gives us a lot of characters to work with, each interesting and compelling in their own sense. Andy's a difficult protagonist to work with - a thinker who loves to hop around from one place to another. Danny is our other big player; a very good friend to Andy, and intent on having him as a foster brother. The plot is much the same; filled with a veil of tragedy and sadness framed by the opening passage about Andy's eventual suicide.
While the premise of the book is very interesting, I myself could not get into it like I thought I would. The characters are fine enough, but they never really feel real, even Andy. His constant stream of tragedies felt so unheard of and humorless, that it felt too unreal. Not to mention, the book moves a lot in the first 50 pages alone, constantly streaming the readers new information about Andy's past. It's a lot to work with, and makes you wonder why the pacing is so fast for a subject that's meant to be examined.
Editing issues were also a big slowdown, with many areas needing a good comma or two in them. It wouldn't have been much of an issue, but the shear amount of grammatical editing that felt left out really made the experience bitter. Another minor quip was that the back cover left no suspense to the story. It felt as though I was building up to absolutely no surprises.
Despite these issues, Bartloff has gleams of great writing within the book. As many times as I cringed at a lack-of-comma, I also smiled at the placement of a thought-provoking metaphor or description. The description was one of the book's strongest aspects, working well with the protagonist's constant thoughtfulness, based on his situation. Some descriptions, however, tried to retain the voice of a teenager, and the working of the narrative made said descriptions seem more awkward than needed.
Overall, TORN FROM NORMAL was an interesting and thoughtful read that dealt with many hardened issues among teenagers today. Unfortunately, clunky grammar and some bad plot dealings bogged it down from being a really powerful read, despite some fairly interesting characters and descriptions. The subject of suicide still holds strong, and the message of treating people right will always be welcomed, though hopefully Barloff's next book will be a bit more polished.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews