Arrivals and Departures from Normal

A nave teenage girl in her senior year of high school comes home to find all her belongings packed and sitting on the front porch. Airstreams abusive father, who silently laments the loss of his baseball career, and a mother, who lives in a world convinced she is Cleopatra before Cleopatra was Cleopatra, have decided Air is a commie-pinko since she reads Ramparts and the Berkeley Barb. From an early age, Air realized in order to survive her bizarre family life she had to protect her authentic self. Whimsical, innately talented, and fiercely independent by nature, Air struggles to piece her life together as she finds herself continually caught in youve-got-to-be-kidding-me circumstances. The author marvelously portrays heart-rending stories with wit and humor. Despite being emotionally abandoned by her parents, Air becomes an engrossing, strong and fascinating young woman, determined to be a successful artist without any formal training. Ingenious and persistent, Air is on a mission to confront her demons and multi-personalities, surmounting the endless, inexplicable far-fetched absurdly funny bumps in the road to prove she is lovable and worthy of love. Airs life path is far from normal.