Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Addition to Gay Literature
Review: Five stars is certainly not enough to describe my joy at this find. Mr. Soehnlein has created a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. I've not found a fourteen year old character in any gay novel that I could related to so well as I did with Robin in this story. As the storyline progressed Robin's character not only grew, but I did as well. I discovered what superior writing is all about as I read. I found myself going 'wow' often as I noted the skill at which Mr. Soehnlein had Robin negotiating through the world of normal boys-all while Robin is alternately stunned at his naiveté, and amazed at his own ability to get angry, feel lustful, lose himself, then gain his confidence. This novel made me remember a huge amount of adolescent angst, much like Robin does, since I grew up in a similar dysfunctional family. Robin's confusion with everyone around him was perfectly depicted-and I found myself remembering having thoughts very similar to his as I explored his inner world and listened to the conversations he had with those around him. Growing up in the environment he lives in is terribly enough, but coming of age and being gay in that kind of atmosphere is even more difficult. I really can't say enough about how incredibly rich this story is, and am finding myself amazed that this is a debut novel. Read this book. You will be touched like nobody's business when you do.
Rating:
Summary: "Normal Boys" Beautiful
Review: I haven't written a book report since college and I won't pretend to write one now. After reading this novel I just had to share my feelings. This book will remain on my nightstand for years to come. The character are wonderfully written, especially Robin. I felt so close to him, I was Robin as a kid. After finishing the book I find myself reflecting on it all the time. I'm starting to re-read it because I'm sad that it is over. This novel will grab you and pull you into its world. This is the sign of great storytelling. I LOVE YOU, K.M. SOECHNLIEN!
Rating: 
Summary: Not just the boy next door
Review: This book really captured the sense of "difference" that I can remember feeling as a gay adolescent. To be not only gay, but smart and sensitive, leaves the main character with no one to talk to. The author captures the pain and poignance in Robin's attraction to other boys in his school. The willingness of those boys to use Robin sexually, and their reluctance to attach any emotion to their activities, makes for a poignant read. His development over the course of the novel is realistic, and rings true. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Review by co-author of It Had to Be You (Timothy James Beck)
Review: The World of Normal Boys is a beautiful portrayal of growing up gay in the 'burbs. Soehnlein's protagonaist, Robin, is a frustrated, highly intelligent boy lusting after his neighbor and one of his high school's "bad boys." His dysfunctional family, incapable of talking about feelings, attempt to deal with an accident that leaves the protagonist's younger brother in a coma. This lack of communication causes Robin to rebel by cutting school and venturing into New York City and defying his father. Whether one is straight, gay or anywhere in between; this story will find some way to touch the reader and pull them in. I would personally compare the story to the films The Ice Storm and American Beauty and Edge of Seventeen. Overall, a great read deserving of it's nomination for the Violet Quill award.
Rating:
Summary: breathtakingly beautiful and honest
Review: This was the second in the series of some gay fiction i've read and i have to say it was BEAUTIFUL, if i had to describe it in only one word. Set in the late 1970s, a 13-year-old boy named Robin MacKenzie is caught in the middle of turmoil between his family and two other 'bad-boys,' Todd Spicer and Scott Schatz. When his pesky little brother Jackson ends up in a coma, Robin has to deal with his slowly-tearing-apart family while confused with his own coming-out problems. While he sometimes blames himself for what happened to Jackson, partly because he wanted it to at some level, he is preoccupied with two fascinations in his life - next door neighbor Todd, the 17 year old brother of his long-time best friend Veronica, and Scott, an abused, 'lone-wolf' drug-dealing tough-guy. Through his emotionally charged ride, he learns much more than he planned on - about society, Scott, his family, and himself. If you're good at handling addictions, i test you at this! TRY *NOT* TO PUT IT DOWN! (i sure couldn't!!!) this book is so honest and real, it gave me such a taste for that other side of fiction. it's making me itch for more...
Rating:
Summary: story within a story within a story....
Review: this was a fantastic book! coming of age is a difficult thing for any teenager, but imagine your little brother falling (literally) into a coma, your parents hardly speaking to one another much less you as well as drinking themselves away from the situation, and to top it all off, finding yourself attracted to your bestfriends brother....the boy who has always picked on you. all in a day of the life of robin, the 13 year old boy about to start highschool. this book is amazing in that it takes the reader directly to the mind of the main character, allowing us to completely understand what it is he is thinking, how it relates to things going on in his life and yet, leaving us as unaware of the furture as he is. there really is a story within a story within a story here! an absolute keeper and highly recommended :)
Rating:
Summary: touching and realistic...
Review: I'm 17 and I just came out to myself. Being a gay teen is not easy but reading this book helped me through some of my personal struggles with myself. I'm sure you probably know the plot by now so I wont waste time explaning them. anyway, this book is one of my very first gay novels and I loved it. I actually was exited to go home and read. It's an amazing story and very realistic. It will warm you heart seeing Robin strive to understand and come to terms with his sexuality. This might not be a book for everyone but for all the homosexuals, especially the gays, you can relate to the character one way or another. I could not stop thinking about it even after I finished. Overall, its a really really good book. I definitely recommend it to anyone questioning about their sexuality or just in for a good read. I can't wait for the next novel by him.
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Summary: Parents of normal boys
Review: As a parent of two gay children, I believe this book should be required reading for any parent--those with straight children and those with gay children--and especially for those parents who think their child is gay but are afraid to talk to one another about it. The World of Normal Boys provides insight into the struggle that adolescents go through as they enter puberty and start questioning and wondering about their sexuality and can't discuss their feelings with their parents. I learned a lot about my children from this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Guilt Trip to Self Awareness
Review: In suburban New Jersey in 1978, young Robin McKenzie has his first cigarette, his first pot, his first delinquent behavior, his first insight upon his parents' fallibility, his first sex, his first love--and his first recognition that his awkwardness in the world of "normal" boys is more than freshman clutziness. Every page of this fine first novel brings astonishing flashbacks of being 13 and 14-the doubts, bravado, outbursts, crushes, and insistent hard-ons pressing with more truth than a boy is ready to know. A playground accident hospitalizes Jackson, Robin's younger brother, and jolts Robin out of childhood into adolescent self-consciousness. Guilt-ridden because he had prayed "God, make something bad happen to Jackson," Robin becomes the battleground for his parents' disintegrating marriage. Robin's father quietly blames Robin for Jackson's accident, and his mother, always in control, is gradually losing it-as Jackson, a rough and tumble "normal" boy, his father's favorite, and a foil to sensitive, artistic, "mama's boy" Robin, lies comatose. At thirteen, Robin reads, draws, and collects Broadway musicals-and is troubled that he doesn't fit in. His guilty attraction to swaggering, seventeen year-old Todd fuels his first wet dream. He has two passive sexual encounters initiated by Todd who, scared stiff that his secret might leak out, swings from seduction to indifference. A similar pattern emerges with best friend Scott, a poor kid whose father beats him. Scott acts tough, deals, breaks all the rules, and Robin is drawn to him. Together they ditch school for a day at the park, where stoned and in an abandoned aviary they have sex-initiated, as with Todd, by Scott. For Robin, the sex is wondrous. But Scott says "Don't make a big deal out of it." Since Todd and Scott are "normal" boys and deny the sex means anything, Robin's guilt increases as he fantasizes about doing it again. Soehnlein's style is quiet, straightforward, seldom melodic- telling a poignant story, never intruding. In the end, Robin doesn't get what he wants, he gets what he needs. And readers do too. The bittersweet ending-renouncing a hopeless love while embracing his dawning gay identity-is cathartic, blending heartbreaking loss with reassuring hope. Nominated for Lambda Literary Foundation's 2001 Best Men's Gay Fiction award, "The World of Normal Boys" is a most worthy contender.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant debut novel
Review: The World of Normal Boys is one of the most powerful first novels I've ever read. The author digs deep into the psyche of his protagonist and speaks to us in a clear, warm, youthful voice. While sometimes shockingly explicit in its sexual content the novel does not rely on the cliches typical of "the coming of age" novel. At times poetic, the book focuses on Robin MacKenzie and his search for love and a "place" in the world. When a horrible accident puts the family at odds with each other, Robin is thrust into a journey filled with self-doubt, guilt, and fear. Never a dull moment, The World of Normal Boys is a page turner. This is a near perfect novel that brings those agonizing years clearly into focus for those of us who forgot what it was like to be on the outside looking in. No doubt, the author will win a Lambda award for this effort. In short, this book is a gem and will stay with you long after you've finished it.
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