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It's Perfectly Normal...
Who knew Sharon Creech was such a trendsetter when, in 1995, she published Absolutely Normal Chaos? Adolescents are known for wanting to blend in with their peers, but based on middle grade and YA novel titles since the year 2000, you'd think conformity was at an all-time high! I offer as evidence:
- Define Normal, by Julie Anne Peters (2000)
- Act I, Act II, Act Normal, by Martha Weston (2003)
- The Trouble with Normal, by Charise Mericle Harper (2003)
- Looking for Normal, by Betty Monthei (2005)
- Not Exactly Normal, by Devin Brown (2005)
- Deliver Us from Normal, by Kate Klise (2005)
- Far from Normal, by Kate Klise (2006) (partially excused because it's a sequel)
- Chasing Normal, by Lisa Papademetriou (2008)
- Waiting for Normal, by Leslie Connor (2008)
In the same timeframe, in spite of their significantly larger market share, adults haven't been as plagued by individuality:
- Normal Girl, by Molly Jong-Fast (2000)
- Like Normal People, by Karen E. Bender (2000)
- Entering Normal, by Anne D. LeClaire (2001)
- Leaving Normal, by Stef Ann Holm (2005)
- A Piece of Normal, by Sandi Kahn Shelton (2006)
- The Last Exit to Normal, by Michael B. Harmon (2008)
Novels with "normal" in the title published before those mentioned above? There is none. Not in our library system, not at this time, anyway. Any prior "normal" books were apparently doomed to fall out of favor, out of print.
Also for the sake of contrast, novels I found in my library system from the past 8 years with "abnormal" in the title? Just one: My Abnormal Life, by Lee McClain (2005).
Maybe it's not as striking as The [Blankety] [Blank] of [What's-His/Her-Face] trend, but we're talking about a single word showing up with, er, abnormal frequency!
Would it also be unfair of me to suggest that some of these authors set their stories in cities named Normal solely for the sake of a clever title? It's a joke that gets old fast.
In the immortal words of Ramona Quimby's father: "First time is funny. Second time is silly. Third time is a spanking."
Ohhh, Lisa, you make such a good point! Here it is, so hard to come up with a title for a book--and then you do and discover that you're part of an unfortunate trend! It reminds me of when I named my baby boy Benjamin, and at the childbirth class reunion I attended six weeks later, ALL the boys had been named Benjamin, and all the girls were Jennifer!!
Now I'm really wishing I'd named my book "A Piece of Abnormal" instead!!
But thank you for this post. It's really something to think about.
Hi Sandi, thanks for popping in! Given the vastness and molasses-like speed of publishing, I'm sure there is absolutely nothing an author can do to guarantee their title will be unique! (Short of naming the book something really convoluted and/or bizarre...) I do wonder where these collective brainwaves come from, though. Must be something in the water...