Longing for Normal

The whole school is chattering about The Bread Project, a fund-raiser meant to honor Griff Winston, the school nurse, who died that summer from a brain tumor. For Eliot, Griff’s adopted son, the Bread Project intrudes on his grief. He just wants to be left alone to get through sixth grade. Don’t make him talk about his Dad or relive how much Dad had loved to make sourdough bread. No one will listen to Eliot. Not Mrs. Lopez, the PTA President. Not his friends. And especially not his new step-mother, Marj. But she had to listen! Because Marj still must sign his official adoption papers. Somehow, they must figure out how to be a family despite Griff’s absence. In the midst of a variety of breads—pan dolce, ciabatti, ekmek, naan, pretzels, poori, pita, English muffins, raisin bread, cinnamon rolls, Kaiser rolls, potato rolls, and much more—Eliot must learn to fight for his family. Read more