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. Life on Pine Road has never been more challenging for the Turners. That's what happens when you're practicing normal. Combining her trademark combination of wit, insight, and tremendous empathy for her characters, Cara Sue Achterberg has written a novel that is at once familiar and startlingly fresh. PRAISE FOR CARA SUE ACHTERBERG'S NATIONAL BESTSELLER I'M NOT HER: Girls' Weekend.indd - Tome Tender AND FOR HER NATIONAL BESTSELLER GIRLS' WEEKEND: Had I known I'd still be sitting in my favorite chair at 2am, racing to the finish, I probably would have put on my pajamas before I started. (Sometime before lunch...) Yeppers, it was that good. It was compelling, touching, and a bit soul-searching. Oh, and it was fun, too." -Momma on the Rocks GIRLS' WEEKEND is beautifully written. It feels as though you are right there with Dani, Charlotte, and Meg. It's a wonderful read and I highly recommend it to any woman who has ever been struck with a case of the 'what ifs.'" - Life, Motherhood, and the Pursuit of Happiness Surprised me in so many good ways." - Lost in a Bookstore
Cara Sue Achterberg is a writer and blogger who lives in New Freedom, PA with her family and an embarrassing number of animals. Her first two novels, I'M NOT HER and GIRLS' WEEKEND were national bestsellers, published to great acclaim. Cara's nonfiction book, Live Intentionally, is a guide to the organic life filled with ideas, recipes, and inspiration for living a more intentional life. Cara is a prolific blogger, occasional cowgirl, and busy mom whose essays and articles have been published in numerous anthologies, magazines, and websites.
"Does facing the truth beat living a lie? In PRACTICING NORMAL, Cara Sue Achterberg has given us a smart story that is both a window and a mirror, about the extraordinary pain and the occasional gifts of an ordinary life." -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN "What does it really mean to have a normal life? Achterberg's stunning new novel explores how a family can fracture just trying to survive, and how what makes us different is also what can make us most divine." -- Caroline Leavitt, author of CRUEL BEAUTIFUL WORLD and the New York Times bestsellers PICTURES OF YOU and IS THIS TOMORROW "PRACTICING NORMAL takes a deep dive into the dysfunctional dynamics of a 'picture perfect family.' A compelling story about the beautiful humanity in the most ordinary of lives: from first love to a marriage on the downward slide to an unexpected family tragedy. Achterberg handles each thread with tender care and we can't help but root for every member of the Turner family." -- Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of THE VANISHING YEAR
