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    Practicing Normal
    Practicing Normal
    Practicing Normal
    Audiobook9 hours

    Practicing Normal

    Written by Cara Sue Achterberg

    Narrated by Charles Constant, Andi Arndt and Xe Sands

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The houses in Pine Estates are beautiful McMansions filled with high-achieving parents, children on the fast track to top colleges, all of the comforts of modern living, and the best security systems money can buy. Welcome to normal upper-middle-class suburbia.

    The Turners know in their hearts that they're anything but normal. Jenna is a high-schooler dressed in black who is fascinated with breaking into her neighbors' homes, security systems be damned. Everett genuinely believes he loves his wife . . . He just loves having a continuing stream of mistresses more. JT is a genius kid with Asperger's who moves from one obsession to the next. And Kate tries to manage her family, manage her mother (who lives down the street), and avoid wondering why her life is passing her by.

    And now everything is changing for them. Jenna suddenly finds herself in a boy-next-door romance she never could have predicted. Everett's secrets are beginning to unravel on him. JT is getting his first taste of success at navigating the world. And Kate is facing truths about her husband, her mother, and her father that she might have preferred not to face.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 6, 2017
    ISBN9781541471894
    Practicing Normal
    Author

    Cara Sue Achterberg

    Cara Sue Achterberg is the author of several books, including I'm Not Her and Girls Weekend, which were national bestsellers. She lives in New Freedom, Pennsylvania.

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    Reviews for Practicing Normal

    4.5/5

    14 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      Practicing Normal by Cara Sue AchterbergThis story starts out with each member of the family, and friends who get a chapter to tell you what's going on in their world.A set of adult parents with a 16 year old daughter, son who's got Asperger’s disease and a grandmother living in her own house.Love that the different age groups are given their own space. Problems they are each going through are difficult and sometimes overwhelming but they push onward.Sad at the end and didn't see the reunion taking place. Love how their author gets me to tear up reading her works.Can't wait to read more. Received this review copy from the publisher The Story Plant and this is my honest opinion.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book about normal people.
    • 5/5
      'Practicing Normal' is a true term as far as real life is concerned. This story is about the Turner family, which could be any family, just trying to live life as best they can one day at a time. We have three narrators and three stories/points of view which really creates a very well rounded and supremely interesting read. There is Kate, the mom who is always second guessing herself and trying to fit in with the other more wealthy neighbors. She has unfortunate doormat tendencies and having a son with Asberger's and a mother who needs constant attention and care, she has a more than full plate. Everett, the dad who is a serial cheater but still professes to love his wife. He thinks he's hot stuff but cannot abide or accept the fact that his son has Asberger's Syndrome. And then there is Jenna, the willful, brilliant teenage daughter who is on the cusp of womanhood and rebellious as hell. They all tell their sides of their family life story and it is just a wonderful, wonderful narrative. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this book. It is so honest and real and the characters are wonderful. This could be any one of our families. Thank you to the author, Cara Achterberg for my special signed copy. Again, highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      The title of this book is "Practicing Normal", but I'm not really sure any of the members of this family are normal. However, I did really enjoy meeting this family. The author did a great job making the characters seem real and I have been lost in their world all day and loved it! There were lots of chuckles while reading and there was a lot of pain going on in this family. I seriously don't know how the mother did it all. No wonder she was losing weight. I really felt sorry for her. The ending has a sad part and a few surprises as we finally learn the secrets about Kate and Evelyn that their mother guarded for years. And, their mother is definitely not someone you would want to spend a lot of your day with, she's pretty crusty.Thanks to The Story Plant and Net Galley for approving and allowing me to read this very entertaining book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.