Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Anything But Ordinary
    Unavailable
    Anything But Ordinary
    Unavailable
    Anything But Ordinary
    Ebook147 pages2 hours

    Anything But Ordinary

    By Valerie Hobbs

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    From the moment their romance begins in eighth grade, Winifred and Bernie are individualists. They pride themselves on being different, and have each other for support through the tough years of high school. So when they consider college, they send off for the same catalogs, promising never to separate.

    But Bernie's mother dies and Bernie more or less drops out of school, becoming an ordinary guy working away in a tire shop, while Winifred goes about as far from New Jersey as a girl can go: the University of California at Santa Barbara. College is a culture shock to Winifred, but her three savvy roommates teach her how to fit in. By the time Bernie catches up with her again, Winifred has become, well . . . ordinary. Can they rediscover their true selves – and true love?

    Told from alternating viewpoints, with a sense of humor and a deep appreciation of first love, Valerie Hobbs's novel captures an endearing young couple's search for independence and identity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateFeb 20, 2007
    ISBN9780374706913
    Unavailable
    Anything But Ordinary
    Author

    Valerie Hobbs

    Valerie Hobbs is the author of Sheep, Defiance, and several other middle grade and young adult novels. She is known for her finely tuned realism and memorable characters. She lives in Santa Barbara, California.

    Read more from Valerie Hobbs

    Related to Anything But Ordinary

    Related ebooks

    YA Social Themes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      My Story The Secrets We Keep

      Oct 7, 2020

      My Story The Secrets We Keep
      4 min read

    • Article

      My Story The Secrets We Keep

      Oct 7, 2020

      My Story The Secrets We Keep
      4 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      On Making Friends With Raina Telgemeier

      Aug 26, 2019

      Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles says the cartoonist Raina Telgemeier is almost like a personal friend to her own children, who fight over tattered copies of Telgemeier's graphic novels.

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Art of PoetryNo. 110

      Dec 1, 2020

      The Art of PoetryNo. 110
      31 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      Happy

      Jan 1, 2023

      Happy
      4 min read

    • Article

      Locals

      Jun 11, 2021

      Locals
      26 min read

    • Article

      Motherhood Makes You Obscene

      Oct 1, 2019

      Motherhood Makes You Obscene
      10 min read

    • Article

      Interlude

      Mar 28, 2022

      Interlude
      10 min read

    • Article

      Fiona Kidman

      Mar 20, 2022

      My childhood was spent on farms and animals were my companions. I would read to my calves and talk to the farm dogs. I don’t recall the books before AA Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. Pooh and Eeyore and Piglet were imaginary animals but their lives pulsate

      1 min read

    • Article

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall

      Oct 5, 2023

      Mirror Mirror On The Wall
      10 min read

    • Article

      Artist in Residence

      Nov 19, 2019

      Artist in Residence
      18 min read

    • Article

      Last Love

      Dec 8, 2023

      Last Love
      13 min read

    • Article

      Attention, Please

      Jan 17, 2021

      Attention, Please
      7 min read

    • Article

      Viagra Is The Worst Thing That Has Happened To Older Women, Says Diane Von Furstenberg

      Aug 31, 2018

      Diane von Furstenberg is remembering how her mother, an Auschwitz survivor, would shut her in a cupboard as a little girl. She would say, Fear is not an option. She would lock me in there so I wouldnt be afraid of the dark. About ten minutes, she con

      7 min read

    • Article

      Notes from St. John the Divine

      Oct 3, 2022

      I wondered whether Joan would have been pleased by any of this. The post Notes from St. John the Divine appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Power Dressing

      Dec 8, 2023

      Power Dressing
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Anything But Ordinary

    3.5/5

    31 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      When thirteen-year-old Bernie moves to a new town and meets the school outcast Winifred, he has no idea how his life is going to change. Both students are incredibly smart, rocketing to the top of their class, and unique, vowing to never be ordinary. They're together for four years, until something makes Bernie decide to not attend college, while Winifred moves to the other side of the country. The story is told in alternating chapters so you learn how the characters really feel, despite their difference. When Bernie finally takes a chance and follows Winifred, he finds that school has turned her into "Wini," and he's not sure how he feels about her anymore. The ending is a little hokey, but the ups and downs of the relationship are realistic and honest.
    • 4/5
      Winnie and Bernie are both “outsiders” who meet and become best friends in the 8th grade. All through high school the two misfits are thick as thieves and plan their futures assuming they will always be together. But when plans to attend college together go awry (Bernie isn’t able to go), both Winnie and Bernie learn what it means to stand on their own two feet. Hobbs also explores what it means to be special, ordinary, and grownup. The bulk of the plot takes place over Winnie’s (and what should have been Bernie’s) freshman year of college. Narrated from alternating points of view. Highly recommended for Hobbs’ very realistic and contemporary portrayal of 1) the college experience – or at least freshman year, 2) the process of figuring out who we really are (and whether or not that is who we want to be), and 3) will Winnie and Bernie get back together? Should they get back together?
    • 2/5
      Easy to read saga of struggling to leave home for college and fitting in once you get there. Interesting romance