The Great Unexpected
by Sharon Creech
In the little town of Blackbird Tree, friends and fellow orphans Naomi and Lizzie are startled when a strange boy, Finn, falls out of a tree. Meanwhile, far across the ocean in Ireland, an elderly lady plots her final revenge on the man who broke her heart. Key to both these stories are three locked trunks, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge and a fairy ring. As a series of curious events unfold, two very different worlds are drawn closer and closer together, until the story reaches its surprising conclusion.
This unusual and enchanting novel is beautifully-written and full of atmosphere. Dealing with some challenging issues such as pain and loss, it also evokes compassion, love and hope. Creech’s characters are drawn with enormous sensitivity: the contrast between the clear-eyed narrator, Naomi and her more fanciful friend Lizzie, is brilliantly evoked. This is a challenging but highly rewarding novel, which will intrigue young readers and will stay with them long after they have finished reading.
Publisher: Andersen Press
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Sharon Creech
Sharon was born in South Euclid, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up there with her noisy and rowdy family: her parents (Ann and Arvel), her sister (Sandy), and her three brothers (Dennis, Doug and Tom). In the summer, they usually took a trip, they all piled in a car and headed out to Wisconsin or Michigan or once to Idaho. Her trip to Idaho was the inspiration for her book Walk Two Moons.
When Sharon was young she wanted to be many things when she grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, a teacher, and a reporter. She says it soon became apparent that she had little drawing talent, very limited tolerance for falling on ice, and absolutely no ability to stay in tune when singing. Sharon also soon learned that she would make a terrible reporter because when she didn't like the facts she changed them. It was in college, where she took literature and writing courses, that she became intrigued with story telling.
Sharon received her BA at Ohio's Miram College and her Master of Arts from the University of Virginia.
Her previous jobs include teacher, editorial assistant, indexer and a researcher.
Sharon started writing novels for adults and published two books while she lived in England having moved there in 1979. She then wrote Absolutely Normal Chaos and since then has mainly written about young people.
Sharon Creech Photo: Bloomsbury
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