The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech

The Great Unexpected

Sharon Creech (Walk Two Moons, Newbery Award 1995) has created two interesting and outspoken heroines, Naomi Deane and Lizzie Scatterding. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens, starting with the incident when she was three and a dog attacked her. Her father died trying to save her. Lizzie could "talk the ears off a cornfield" and signs the girls up to be "companions" to some of the needier local senior citizens.

Naomi and Lizzie are both orphans and live in an obscure little Southern town called Blackbird Tree, which has a full cast of unusual characters, including Witch Wiggins, one-armed Mr. Farley, the Dimmens clan up on the mountain, Crazy Cora and Mr. Canner. One day a boy named Finn literally drops into their lives and so begins a chain of events that change both their lives.

In the meantime, a separate plot line involves an old lady on a grand estate in Ireland who is hatching a plan and sending a spy to gather information on the people in Blackbird Tree. Her heart being broken many years ago and an estrangement with her sister were both caused by another boy named Finn.

This book is well written and creates an air of mystery as the two storylines unfold, eventually joining up to create a satisfying, if slightly too good to be true, ending.     2012

R. Rauch