I liked this better than I thought I would. Stagliano is brash, breezy and not the least bit maudlin. I was very interested to look through the window of this book into her life, and I am quite certain it's a life I could not have handled. I don't know that she and I would be buddies IRL, I don't think we share very many core values, but it's always interesting to read about an extreme life when the liver isn't given to whining. Even if that life sounds like a nightmare to me.

Her girls sound quite challenging and well-loved. Stagliano is a tireless researcher and advocate. She apparently is a famous "autism mom" (her words) and generates no small amount of controversy in the community with her strongly held opinions about various therapies and theories. Her husband? Don't get me started. But the parts where her husband calls her Toonces made me gag a little.