The Great Unexpected

From Newbery Medal winner and bestselling author Sharon Creech comes a grand, sweeping yarn that is a celebration of the great and unexpected gifts of love, friendship, and forgiveness. With a starred review from Kirkus Reviews calling it an "enchanting tale to treasure," The Great Unexpected captures the heart and the imagination.

Humorous and heartfelt, this is a story of pairs--of young Naomi and Lizzie, both orphans in present-day Blackbird Tree, USA, and of Sybil and Nula, grown-up sisters from faraway Rook's Orchard, Ireland, who have become estranged.

Young Naomi Deane is brimming with curiosity and her best friend, Lizzie Scatterding, could talk the ears off a cornfield. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens. She knows all the peculiar people in town--like Crazy Cora and Witch Wiggins. But then, one day, a boy drops out of a tree. Just like that. A strangely charming Finn boy. And then the Dingle Dangle man appears, asking all kinds of questions. Curious surprises are revealed--three locked trunks, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy--and soon Naomi and Lizzie find their lives changed forever.

As two worlds are woven together, Creech reveals that hearts can be mended and that there is indeed a gossamer thread that connects us all.

What connects two orphans in America to a long-lost secret in Ireland?

• Two Worlds Collide: Follow two pairs of girls an ocean apart--best friends Naomi and Lizzie in America, and estranged sisters Sybil and Nula in Ireland--whose lives are unknowingly intertwined.
• A Touch of Magic: When a mysterious boy named Finn literally falls out of a tree, it's the first of many curious surprises, from a crooked bridge to a pair of mysterious rooks.
• Found Family: A heartfelt tale about two orphans, Naomi and Lizzie, who discover that family is found in the most unexpected places.
• An Unexpected Inheritance: Three locked trunks hold the key to the past, leading to a life-changing discovery that will mend broken hearts and connect both worlds forever.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 09/04/2012
ISBN: 9780061892325
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.52h x 5.85w x 0.86d
Award: Massachusetts Children's Book Award - Nominee

Review Citations: Booklist 06/01/2012 pg. 100
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2012
Publishers Weekly 07/16/2012 pg. 169
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2012 pg. 1644
School Library Journal 08/01/2012 pg. 102
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2012 pg. 84
Shelf Awareness 09/14/2012
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 11/01/2012
New York Times Book Review 11/11/2012 pg. 36
Kirkus Bea Big Book Guide 05/15/2012 pg. 55
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2013 - Superior,Well Above Average

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 153512 / Great Unexpected
Reading Level: 4.3 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 6