Shades of Normal

A Novel

Kayla’s talking too loud and too fast. “I was in another educational institution until now, but my parents felt I should switch.
“There’s a long, awkward silence.
“What’s your name?” Breindy Silber asks finally.
“Kayla. Kayla Weiss.” Kayla cranes her neck, casts around the room for a moment, and her eyes light on Mimi, frozen in the doorway. “Mimi’s my sister.”

When Mimi’s atypical sister Kayla joins her class at the beginning of eleventh grade, Mimi is determined that no one guess the connection between the two of them. Kayla, on the other hand, is set on making friends in her new environment – and Mimi and her circle seem to be perfect candidates.

With her tight-knit group of friends entangled in conflict, and academic expectations increasing as seminary applications near, Mimi has enough on her plate – without needing to protect her sister from the class queen or help her find her place in a social scene all-too-complex for Kayla to navigate.

All Mimi ever wanted was to fit in. To be normal.
But what is normal, anyway?
Does it really matter?
And – how much will Mimi give up in order to achieve it?

Originally published in Mishpacha magazine.

By Rochel Samet