Norm Feuti

@normfeuti.bsky.social

183 Followers 158 Following

Award-winning author, illustrator & cartoonist living in Massachusetts. 📚BOOKS: A Kid Like Me • Beak & Ally • Hello, Hedgehog! • The King of Kazoo 🗞COMICS: Retail • Gil normfeuticartoons.com

“I loved so much about this story — Ethan’s love for nerdy games, and desire to figure out who he is while navigating the struggles of middle school friendships and the comparison to his classmates. This one hits on so many important coming of age themes!” —Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, NC
P1: Gil finishes a book P2: GIL: "Humph." P3: MOM: "did you finish your book, Gil?" GIL: "Yeah" P4: MOM: "I'm impressed that you read all eight books in the series. You must have really liked them." GIL: "I did ... until the last one. I don't like how it ended." P5: GIL: "After such an epic story, with so many great characters, I was expecting so much more." P6: MOM: "Well, all you need is a pencil and paper, and you can make the story end however you wanted it to. GIL:"Hey, that's a good idea." P7: Gil writes a letter: "Dear Author, I'm writing to let you know you ended your series wrong and should give it another try."
A comic strip about working in retail. A woman grabs the bottom of a stack of jeans to get the size she wants. The jeans tumble off of the display. The final panel reveals they have fallen on the head of an employee unpacking a box at the base of the display. Unmoved by her mistake, the customer simply asks the employee "Where are your belts?" The employee (face covered by a pair of jeans) defeatedly replies "Near the escalators".
An image of the book jacket for A KID LIKE ME. A young boy sits on a picnic table with a trailer in the background.
Two boxes containing many copies of the book A KID LIKE ME.
A picture of oak tree branches lined with snow
Small square journal with random pencil sketches. A hospital building, an airplane, a “Baby Godzilla” toy and a USB adapter.
A cartoon face drawn on a square of cardboard
While Ethan's story is a work of fiction, it was inspired by my own experiences trying to fit in as an underprivileged kid. I grew up in an economically depressed rural town in Rhode Island. My sister and I were raised by our single mother, who worked in a factory assembling window screens. When I was ten, an old friend of my mother's was going through a divorce and was looking for someone to rent the basement of her house. Seeing it as an opportunity for a better life, my mother moved us across the country to the middle-class suburb in Colorado where her friend lived. Living in this new neighborhood was eye-opening for me. Where I came from, most of the kids I knew were poor like me. Now I was surrounded by middle-class kids who were all much better off than we were. Making new friends in this environment wasn't always easy. My mom drove a beat-up Dodge Rambler. I wore clothes from Kmart. My teeth were crooked because we couldn't afford braces. I might as well have been wearing a barrel with suspenders. More than a few parents eyed me cautiously. I was often looked at as a potential thief or a probable bad influence. In retrospect, those parents were just being protective of their own kids, but still-it always stung. Still, I made friends. Instead of Bio Battle, it was Dungeons & Dragons that helped me bond with other kids. Games have a wonderful way of connecting people from all walks of life. Between rolling dice and mapping ancient ruins, we'd talk about everyday stuff and get to know each other. I'd discover my new middle-class friends had many of the same problems my poor friends did. Nobody was immune to the things life throws at you.
Two copies of A KID LIKE ME on a shipping envelope. On the cover, a boy sits on a picnic table with a chainlink fence and a trailer in the background.
An ink drawing of a Volkswagen Beetle.
Two vinyl record jackets on a desktop. Meat Loaf: Bat Out Of Hell & Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True.
The vinyl record jacker for REM's Fables of the Reconstruction.
Arough pencil sketch of a Victorian house
A photograph of the record jacket for Cat Stevens album Teaser and the Firecat.
An image of the book jacket for A KID LIKE ME with the JLG Gold Standard seal. A young boy sits on a picnic table with a trailer in the background.
A photo of the record jacket for the Elvis Costello album This Year's Model.
A sheet of commemorative stamps designed by Chris Ware. The full sheet depicts U.S. Mail trucks and carriers delivering mail around a town square.
An advertisement that reads: BARNES&NOBLE PRE-ORDER SALE JULY 8-11 / ONLINE ONLY Premium and Rewards Members can use PREORDER25 at checkout to receive 25% off all pre-orders, including print books, ebooks, and audiobooks! Premium Members receive an additional 10% off. Some exclusions apply. Online only.
A book cover for featuring a boy sitting on a picnic table with his school backpack on the ground next to him. A trailer home can be seen in the background.
Map of US voting represented by population with blue and red dots. It shows a more evenly divided electorate.
A record player and two album covers. No Dice by Badfinger and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
The start of a rough sketch for a book cover. The form of boy sitting at a picnic table.
A chlidrens book with a cartoon alligator and bird on the cover. The Spanish title is Pico y Kay: Amigos for sorpresa.