diane recommends The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech

A few years ago while I was roaming the library, I happened upon Sharon Creech. I instantly fell in love with her books. I read all of them starting with Walk Two Moons and ending with Chasing Redbird. So, when I heard that Sharon Creech had a new book coming out, I was thrilled, and the day it came out, it was in my hands.

Naomi and Lizzie--two best friends--live in a strange town. All the kids have very different circumstances, but none of their biological parents are active in their lives. Lizzie lives with her, "foster parents, who are definitely going to be her adoptive parents." and she is very bubbly. "Oh, lar-de-dar, the sky is so blue; the fields so green, oh, lar-de-dar." Naomi, on the other hand, has a lot of background that she likes to keep secret from everyone--including the reader. Finn, a boy who is mysterious and suspicious in all ways possible, fades in and out of the story as the summer unravels. The two girls finish their summer with the best ending they could ever have, but not in the way they were thinking.

There are two stories going on that intertwine in the end, but you can definitely tell--by the chapter headings, when you change stories. Lizzie was my favorite character throughout the entire book with her, "Lar-de-dar" in a high pitched voice. Lizzie was constantly making me laugh, and I really liked the relationship the reader feels with her through Sharon Creech's words.

I liked this book because it was about two best friends growing up, and how they have trials of one sort or another. Also, it had a tiny bit of romance.

"Finn was floating toward me. Truly, I think he floated on the air . . . He glided toward me. He floated toward me. I felt I would faint. I was hallucinating. His lips touched my cheek, lightly, like the swish of a butterfly's wing, and because I felt awkward and did not know how to respond, I lifted his hand and softly kissed his palm."

I have loved Sharon Creech's books in the past, but I was a little disappointed with this one. It was good--but it just wasn't what I think of as "Sharon Creech good." However, it was a very fun book to read, and I would recommend this book to many kids.

I loved the ending though, and Sharon Creech is going to have to write a sequel to it soon . . . .

The Great Unexpected
by Sharon Creech
published by HarperCollins
September 2012
Recommended for ages 8-12