Living in a rock hut on a nude beach. Staying in a religious commune. Facing an angry man with a gun. Riding camels. Hiding freaky health food lunches from lucky Twinkie eaters.Michele didn’t experience these things living in the suburbs of San Francisco. Then came the counterculture revolution. Her entire life changed. Michele’s young parents sold their home, bought a car and trailer overseas, and took her and her little sister to explore the world.We know a lot about the “flower children,” but what does an actual child from that era have to say? While many tales about that revolutionary time are on record, few come from the perspective of the children who lived it.She rebelled by cheerleading, eating junk food, attending honor roll parties, and dreaming of being a foxy stewardess/actress. Lame? Sure. But how else does a child of young parents of the wild sixties generation rebel? By countering the counterculture.Michele’s collection of stories, Craving Normal, in which she rarely takes herself too seriously, spans from her earliest memories of the “normal” suburbs, through growing up and trying to find a place where she fit in. Does she find it? Is Hollywood a sane place to search for normalcy?Michele Miles Gardiner has written essays and articles for newspapers and magazines, and performed her stories on stage.