THE LAST EXIT TO NORMAL

THE LAST EXIT TO NORMAL, by Michael Harmon (Knopf 2008)(14+). Skater punk Ben (Ian's best friend from SKATE) is causing trouble, like he's done ever since the day three years ago that his dad announced he was gay and his mother left. Now, Ben's dad and his partner Edward have decided that what seventeen year old Ben needs is a change of scenery. So they pack up and move back to Edward's hometown of Rough Butte, Montana (population 450, give or take)...

There, things aren't quite what Ben expects, as he clashes with Miss Mae, Edward's mother; begins to date a pretty girl; encounters a friendly cop (of all things); befriends the abused neighbor boy; and he and his father finally begin to come to terms with who they are separately and what they are together.

In THE LAST EXIT TO NORMAL, Harmon eschews cliches and portrays each of Ben, his father and stepdad, and the people of Rough Butte as authentic, realistic, and rounded. Ben's voice is wry, unaffected, and occasionally surprising as Ben ultimately finds his own way in a believable and satisfying fashion.