Audiobook9 hours
Practicing Normal
Written by Cara Sue Achterberg
Narrated by Charles Constant, Andi Arndt and Xe Sands
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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.
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.
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.
More audiobooks from Cara Sue Achterberg
One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and A Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girls' Weekend Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Practicing Normal
Related audiobooks
Wishbones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piece of Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Spectrum Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Different Way of Seeing: A Blind Woman’s Journey of Living an "Ordinary" Life in an Extraordinary Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou, Me and Letting Go Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Personality Disorders: How to Handle Brain Conditions and Autism Spectrum Disorders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWeightless: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange Son: Two Mothers, Two Sons, and the Quest to Unlock the Hidden World of Autism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secrets We Carried Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odds of You and Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Found in Transition: A Mother's Evolution during Her Child's Gender Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorderline Insanity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lara The Runaway Cat: One cat’s journey to discover home is where the heart is Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters to a Stranger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of Adapting Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Swinging From The Chandelier: Finding Joy In The Journey Through Autism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlanet Asperger: Around the Syndrome in 88 Questions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autism Spectrum Disorder: 2nd Edition: What Every Parent Needs to Know Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGiving Adults with Autism Skills to Build Independent Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love that Boy: What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips, and My Son Taught Me About a Parents Expectations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tainted Love: Diary of a Smoker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fatal Attraction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism & Asperger's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After Your Child's Autism Diagnosis: A Quick, Supportive Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNevertheless We Persisted: Tales of Loss, Love, and Finding Your Own Power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Hearts Will Burn Us Down: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ask Again Later Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tips From the Bargain Junkie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Carly's Voice: Breaking Through Autism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Family Life For You
Nineteen Steps: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Regrets of Clover: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Idea of You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Joy Luck Club Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time's Mouth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Minutes: A novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forever, Interrupted: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evil Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After I Do: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reminders of Him: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Racing in the Rain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Let Her Stay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Leftover Woman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winter Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Regretting You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Home: the most moving and heartfelt novel you'll read this year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe in Another Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Then She Was Gone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bird Box: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People We Keep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Night Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where the Forest Meets the Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Humans: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Commonwealth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Practicing Normal
Rating: 4.571428407142857 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
14 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Practicing 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excellent book about normal people.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5'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!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 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.