The Opposite of Normal

The Opposite of Normal

When Rabbi Mark Friedlander moves his teenage children from Manhattan to a quiet town in Northwestern New Jersey after the death of their mother, he hopes for a fresh start, a place for him and his children to heal while he leads a vibrant synagogue that will embrace them. What he gets instead is just the opposite.<br /> <br />His daughter, Hannah, twelve, struggles with grief, loneliness, and what it means to be Jewish as a Chinese adoptee. She wants to fit in, but that's difficult in their new mostly white and Christian town--so she decides to secretly convert.<br /> <br />His son, Aaron, a senior in high school, is applying to Ivy League schools and counting down to when he can leave the small town--until he discovers a shocking secret that threatens his entire future. <br /> <br />Lurking in the shadows is a pastor who says he just wants to support the kids in his congregation, but is that all he really wants? <br /><br />The Opposite of Normal is about what it means to love and accept, what it means to do the right thing, and what it means to heal after loss.