I read Something Like Normal as my summer reading book.  I really enjoyed it because the characters really changed.  Travis changed a great amount from the beginning to the end.  In the beginning he hated being home and his dead best friend, Charlie, "haunted" him and spoke to him.  In reality it was just Travis imagining him because of his PTSD.  For example, when Travis is in the airport he thinks he sees Charlie, "Charlie?" I take a step forward and this weird sort of happiness fizzes up inside me like a soda bottle, because if he's here in Florida it means he's not---dead."  But in the end of the book Travis realizes his problem and asks his mother for some help and to get a Psychologist. This helps move the plot along throughout as he heals and realizes new things happening around him. 



Travis is a great example of what many of our own soldiers go through every day.  There is an article that shows that Travis experiences PTSD.







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