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Absolutely Normal Chaos
Mary Lou Finney is less than excited about her assignment to keep a journal over the summer. Boring! Then cousin Carl Ray comes to stay with her family, and what starts out as the dull dog days of summer quickly turns into the wildest roller coaster ride of all time. A wonderful story of contemporary teen life.
230 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 1990
263 people are currently reading
2765 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Creech
71 books3,292 followersI was born in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up there with my noisy and rowdy family: my parents (Ann and Arvel), my sister (Sandy), and my three brothers (Dennis, Doug and Tom).
For a fictional view of what it was like growing up in my family, see Absolutely Normal Chaos. (In that book, the brothers even have the same names as my own brothers.) Our house was not only full of us Creeches, but also full of friends and visiting relatives.
In the summer, we usually took a trip, all of us piled in a car and heading out to Wisconsin or Michigan or, once, to Idaho. We must have been a very noisy bunch, and I'm not sure how our parents put up with being cooped up with us in the car for those trips. The five-day trip out to Idaho when I was twelve had a powerful effect on me: what a huge and amazing country! I had no idea then that thirty-some years later, I would recreate that trip in a book called Walk Two Moons.
One other place we often visited was Quincy, Kentucky, where my cousins lived (and still live) on a beautiful farm, with hills and trees and swimming hole and barn and hayloft. We were outside running in those hills all day long, and at night we'd gather on the porch where more stories would be told. I loved Quincy so much that it has found its way into many of my books—transformed into Bybanks, Kentucky. Bybanks appears in Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, and Bloomability. Bybanks also makes a brief appearance (by reference, but not by name) in The Wanderer.
When I was young, I wanted to be many things when I grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, a teacher, and a reporter. It soon became apparent that I had little drawing talent, very limited tolerance for falling on ice, and absolutely no ability to stay on key while singing. I also soon learned that I would make a terrible reporter because when I didn't like the facts, I changed them. It was in college, when I took literature and writing courses, that I became intrigued by story-telling. Later, I was a teacher (high school English and writing) in England and in Switzerland. While teaching great literature, I learned so much about writing: about what makes a story interesting and about techniques of plot and characterization and point of view. I started out writing novels for adults (published as Sharon Rigg): The Recital and Nickel Malley were both written and published while I was living in England (these books were published in England only and are now out of print.) But the next book was Absolutely Normal Chaos, and ever since that book I have written mainly about young people. Walk Two Moons was the first of my books to be published in America. When it received the Newbery Medal, no one was more surprised than I was. I'm still a little bit in shock.
After Walk Two Moons came Chasing Redbird, Pleasing the Ghost, Bloomability, The Wanderer, and Fishing in the Air. I hope to be writing stories for a long, long time.
I am married to Lyle Rigg, who is the headmaster of The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, and have two grown children, Rob and Karin. Being with my family is what I enjoy most. The next-best thing is writing stories.
© Sharon Creech
For a fictional view of what it was like growing up in my family, see Absolutely Normal Chaos. (In that book, the brothers even have the same names as my own brothers.) Our house was not only full of us Creeches, but also full of friends and visiting relatives.
In the summer, we usually took a trip, all of us piled in a car and heading out to Wisconsin or Michigan or, once, to Idaho. We must have been a very noisy bunch, and I'm not sure how our parents put up with being cooped up with us in the car for those trips. The five-day trip out to Idaho when I was twelve had a powerful effect on me: what a huge and amazing country! I had no idea then that thirty-some years later, I would recreate that trip in a book called Walk Two Moons.
One other place we often visited was Quincy, Kentucky, where my cousins lived (and still live) on a beautiful farm, with hills and trees and swimming hole and barn and hayloft. We were outside running in those hills all day long, and at night we'd gather on the porch where more stories would be told. I loved Quincy so much that it has found its way into many of my books—transformed into Bybanks, Kentucky. Bybanks appears in Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, and Bloomability. Bybanks also makes a brief appearance (by reference, but not by name) in The Wanderer.
When I was young, I wanted to be many things when I grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, a teacher, and a reporter. It soon became apparent that I had little drawing talent, very limited tolerance for falling on ice, and absolutely no ability to stay on key while singing. I also soon learned that I would make a terrible reporter because when I didn't like the facts, I changed them. It was in college, when I took literature and writing courses, that I became intrigued by story-telling. Later, I was a teacher (high school English and writing) in England and in Switzerland. While teaching great literature, I learned so much about writing: about what makes a story interesting and about techniques of plot and characterization and point of view. I started out writing novels for adults (published as Sharon Rigg): The Recital and Nickel Malley were both written and published while I was living in England (these books were published in England only and are now out of print.) But the next book was Absolutely Normal Chaos, and ever since that book I have written mainly about young people. Walk Two Moons was the first of my books to be published in America. When it received the Newbery Medal, no one was more surprised than I was. I'm still a little bit in shock.
After Walk Two Moons came Chasing Redbird, Pleasing the Ghost, Bloomability, The Wanderer, and Fishing in the Air. I hope to be writing stories for a long, long time.
I am married to Lyle Rigg, who is the headmaster of The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, and have two grown children, Rob and Karin. Being with my family is what I enjoy most. The next-best thing is writing stories.
© Sharon Creech
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 701 reviews
October 14, 2017
This is my first time to read a novel written by Sharon Creech; I've read two poetry books of her last month, and those made me curious if her novels are also good. I can't imagine that I had read this till 3 in the morning just to finished reading this; and it's really worth it! I'm now looking forward to reading some of her other novels such as Walk Two Moons and Bloomability in the future.
July 21, 2019
Update 2019: Just finished this novel for at least the fourth time, and I genuinely do love this book with all of my heart. It’s just so easygoing and adorable and relatable and embarrassing and it’s the perfect pick-me-up for my book slump. I’ll never rate this book less than 5 stars, if only for the wonderful memories that always accompany it.
Original 2016 review: Reread this book for the third time. It's definitely my favorite middle-grade novel of all time.
The summer and journaling aspects of it really inspired me to make the most out of this summer and keep a journal!
The characters are all great, and I admit I did laugh out loud a couple times. Even though the twists weren't really twists for me, I loved it. It just made me a bit nostalgic for simpler times of childhood!
This is a must-read for people of all ages!
Original 2016 review: Reread this book for the third time. It's definitely my favorite middle-grade novel of all time.
The summer and journaling aspects of it really inspired me to make the most out of this summer and keep a journal!
The characters are all great, and I admit I did laugh out loud a couple times. Even though the twists weren't really twists for me, I loved it. It just made me a bit nostalgic for simpler times of childhood!
This is a must-read for people of all ages!
April 17, 2008
Oh, Alpha Omega! Oh, King of Kings! I enjoyed reading this book :D!
It's written as a journal of a 13 years old girl. The journal was supposed to be an assignment for her summer vacation, turn out that the girl--Mary Lou Finney--was really into writing in her journal. She filled up six little blue books. She wrote about her family, her weird cousin--Carl Ray--, her best friend, her first boy friend, and about Homer's Odyssey--the book she picked out from her summer reading list--.
Girls, you should read it... It's definitely better than those teen-lits :D.
It's written as a journal of a 13 years old girl. The journal was supposed to be an assignment for her summer vacation, turn out that the girl--Mary Lou Finney--was really into writing in her journal. She filled up six little blue books. She wrote about her family, her weird cousin--Carl Ray--, her best friend, her first boy friend, and about Homer's Odyssey--the book she picked out from her summer reading list--.
Girls, you should read it... It's definitely better than those teen-lits :D.
Read
February 28, 2009I was in a book store and the only books I was seeing were historical fiction books; and personally, I hate historical fiction. Then I saw this book on the shelf and Absolutely fell in love!
February 4, 2008
I am reading a book called Absolutely Normal Chaos. This book is about a girl named Mary Lou Finney. She tells us about her summer (she is telling her journal this) sometimes she is also living the events she talks about. She has a friend named Beth Ann who is using her Mary Lou's cousin (Carl Ray) to make Beth Ann's boyfriend jealous and to make him get back together with her. Mary Lou is also dating one of the cutest guys in her class, Alex. Mary Lou's brothers and older sister are very annoying to her. So she is living a life with so much going on: CHAOS! I like this book because so much is happening while she is trying to have a normal summer! -SCA
Read
December 31, 2025back in the day, this was my jenny han.
let me elaborate.
back in the day, mary lou finney was my belly, and euclid, ohio was my cousins' beach. alex cheevey was my jeremiah and conrad swirled together into your typical adorable, bipedal red flag.
the only difference between this book and jenny han is that i liked it a hell of a lot more than the summer i turned pretty.
let me elaborate.
back in the day, mary lou finney was my belly, and euclid, ohio was my cousins' beach. alex cheevey was my jeremiah and conrad swirled together into your typical adorable, bipedal red flag.
the only difference between this book and jenny han is that i liked it a hell of a lot more than the summer i turned pretty.
October 26, 2021
This was my favorite book in elementary school and so I ordered it for my sister to read! It holds a special place in my heart and I had to read it again. I think this book is the reason why I love journal/letter formats for books. I distinctly remember loving the fact that Mary Lou had a crazy household like I did. It's such a cute snapshot of life as a 7th grader and it was fun to travel back to the time I first read it.
I’ve been going through a hard time and needed some nostalgia. I think I’ll read Walk Two Moons since I didn’t know that it features Mary Lou Finney as a side character. She’s the best :)
I’ve been going through a hard time and needed some nostalgia. I think I’ll read Walk Two Moons since I didn’t know that it features Mary Lou Finney as a side character. She’s the best :)
April 5, 2023
I read this book towards the end of sixth grade and remember being obsessed with it. After nearly two decades, I can say that it stood the test of time! A dairy-structured story from the eyes of a girl named Mary-Lou Finney, this book is just so precious to me. Sharon Creech is a great writer for kids and I can see a future daughter reading this years from now.
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Want to read
August 14, 2024🩷Pre-read:🩷
Being forced against my will to read this by one of my irl friends bc it was the first “romance” book she read as a kid. Gonna have a good time making fun of this book tho 😂
Being forced against my will to read this by one of my irl friends bc it was the first “romance” book she read as a kid. Gonna have a good time making fun of this book tho 😂
July 2, 2020
This was, an amazing book, although have to admit, the very beginning was sort of slow, but as soon as a passed the first five to ten pages... I was hooked. It was really funny, smartly plotted, and very relatable. Actually, I'm a lot like Mary Lou Finney.
Another book that you should definitely read is The Gardenia Curse, by C.M. Savage. It's an amazing book.
P.S. I know that probably no one cares, but I just want to say that this was my 500th read book on Goodreads!!!!!!
Another book that you should definitely read is The Gardenia Curse, by C.M. Savage. It's an amazing book.
P.S. I know that probably no one cares, but I just want to say that this was my 500th read book on Goodreads!!!!!!
June 26, 2025
3.5 stars
Things I liked about this book:
- Our narrator Mary Lou's voice #Lord. If Mary Lou were around now, these would be her top used emojis: 🤦♀️🙄
- Carl Ray! and his plotline
- Mary Lou's big family
- How boy crazy Mary Lou can get, it can be cute haha
- The context this provides for Walk Two Moons. Tbh Mr. Birkway is hilarious for (spoiler for that book?) reading all these kids' journals out loud and inciting some drama xD
- This is so specific but that one scene where (not major spoiler imo) . I loved their conversation xD
Things I didn't like about this book:
- Recap of every chapter of The Odyssey 🙄 Isn't it enough that I had to read it for school, too?
- How boy crazy Mary Lou can get, it can be annoying haha
- Weird random rushed ending , but I can get the idea behind it
Also I think this is a nice book title + I absolutely love the name Mary Lou :)
Things I liked about this book:
- Our narrator Mary Lou's voice #Lord. If Mary Lou were around now, these would be her top used emojis: 🤦♀️🙄
- Carl Ray! and his plotline
- Mary Lou's big family
- How boy crazy Mary Lou can get, it can be cute haha
- The context this provides for Walk Two Moons. Tbh Mr. Birkway is hilarious for (spoiler for that book?) reading all these kids' journals out loud and inciting some drama xD
- This is so specific but that one scene where (not major spoiler imo) . I loved their conversation xD
Things I didn't like about this book:
- Recap of every chapter of The Odyssey 🙄 Isn't it enough that I had to read it for school, too?
- How boy crazy Mary Lou can get, it can be annoying haha
- Weird random rushed ending , but I can get the idea behind it
Also I think this is a nice book title + I absolutely love the name Mary Lou :)
January 3, 2020
Soooo good!
January 22, 2020
I loved this book!! It had so many surprises. I kept gasping and jumping. It was cool to read Mary Lou's diary because I learned about her and it helped explain Walk Two Moon better. This book is definitely one of my favorites!!!
September 20, 2022
I read every Sharon Creech book in my school library when I was younger, so when I saw this one at the book sale this year I had to get it. It is a very sweet and weirdly relatable middle grade book!
December 15, 2025
Reread of a childhood favorite while home for the holidays ❤️
April 8, 2025
This was my FAVORITE book in fifth grade, and this was my first time reading it as an adult (thanks Pam for conning me into reading it on vacation). Experiencing it now I completely understand why I loved it so much as a kid. It was like being transported back to my pre-teen years. Sharon Creech is the best!
September 2, 2022
Update January 2021
It's been almost two decades since I've been gifted this book. I've read it over a dozen times... And it still manages to entertain me and amuse me as if it were the first time.
* * *
Edit: January 2017
A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile.
I still adore this book, even if I'm almost 25. I still laugh and root for Mary Lou and .
* * *
I read this book almost every summer since 2003, when my mum bought it as a Christmas gift for me. Needless to say, I love it and it's one of the books I cherish the most, even if it's a simple story.
It's been almost two decades since I've been gifted this book. I've read it over a dozen times... And it still manages to entertain me and amuse me as if it were the first time.
* * *
Edit: January 2017
A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile.
I still adore this book, even if I'm almost 25. I still laugh and root for Mary Lou and .
* * *
I read this book almost every summer since 2003, when my mum bought it as a Christmas gift for me. Needless to say, I love it and it's one of the books I cherish the most, even if it's a simple story.
August 6, 2025
August 2025
Reread.
I enjoy this just as much as an adult as when I first read it as a child.
July 2021
Reread.
Still just as good of a story, though it bugs me the way Mary Lou constantly uses 'God' as an exclamation. I love when childhood favorites hold up on multiple re-reads as an adult.
June 2014
It's always nice when a book you enjoyed as a kid actually holds up in a reread as an adult. This one did. I loved the new cover and the font changes. Physically a gorgeous book, and a great story.
Reread.
I enjoy this just as much as an adult as when I first read it as a child.
July 2021
Reread.
Still just as good of a story, though it bugs me the way Mary Lou constantly uses 'God' as an exclamation. I love when childhood favorites hold up on multiple re-reads as an adult.
June 2014
It's always nice when a book you enjoyed as a kid actually holds up in a reread as an adult. This one did. I loved the new cover and the font changes. Physically a gorgeous book, and a great story.
June 29, 2024
I shelved this as a contemporary read, but it may be 'historical' in that there is no reference to computers, cell phones, or the internet, all of which are so central to the lives of today's kids. I also suspect that young readers will be able to identify with the characters better than I did. The angst! The drama!
Many references to The Odyssey.
Many references to The Odyssey.
Read
June 6, 2019I really enjoyed this book. I was never really able to put it down. Its about a 13 year old girl spending her summer with a cousin that finds out that his real dad was a man he never knew. He set out to find him. Then the 13 year girl named Mary Lou is dealing with friend and boy trouble as well. You have to read it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
September 9, 2020I love the work of Sharon Creech. The characters in this novel overlap with the characters in Walk Two Moons, a book I love.
August 3, 2022
4.5 stars.
This story was a charming supplement to the same universe where Creech's "Walk Two Moons", and "Chasing Redbird" takes place. It is set in the summer just before Salamanca, Phoebe and Mary Lou meet in Mr. Birkway's English class, formatted in Mary Lou's summer diary. This literary universe is one that I like to return to every once in a while, and I'm glad I did.
I was comforted throughout this novel by the familiar elements I love about Creech's writing, particularly the exploration of complex themes (child adoption, death of a loved one, Homer's Odyssey, Shakespeare's wheel of fortune) through the eyes and humour of children.
Like her other works, this book is a prime example of how reading children/teen books as an adult can be deeply enlightening and introspective.
This story was a charming supplement to the same universe where Creech's "Walk Two Moons", and "Chasing Redbird" takes place. It is set in the summer just before Salamanca, Phoebe and Mary Lou meet in Mr. Birkway's English class, formatted in Mary Lou's summer diary. This literary universe is one that I like to return to every once in a while, and I'm glad I did.
I was comforted throughout this novel by the familiar elements I love about Creech's writing, particularly the exploration of complex themes (child adoption, death of a loved one, Homer's Odyssey, Shakespeare's wheel of fortune) through the eyes and humour of children.
Like her other works, this book is a prime example of how reading children/teen books as an adult can be deeply enlightening and introspective.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2018
A delightful read. I loved the main character’s voice as she relayed her experiences over the summer in her journal. Sharon Creech has a gift for writing believable, relatable characters.
June 24, 2020
As soon as I started reading this book, I couldn't stop. I always love books when it's about someones diary, and I'm super excited to read the second book!
I would totally recommend!
I would totally recommend!
June 26, 2020
This is a reread. I read this when I was in middle school and I loved it. Reading this one again was so much fun. I love the characters and I love how it still made me laugh.
July 22, 2021
I just love this book so much. And I'm giving it 5 stars just because it's what 8 year old me would want.
October 30, 2022
good book for teens
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December 1, 2024Reread this book for the millionth time since my first time reading it as maybe a 12 year old (?) Loving reading lately for the sake of nostalgia. This one is still perfect to me <3
May 22, 2025
MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME!! I read my mom’s copy she had when she was a kids and it is an amazing book!! I love Sharon Creech:)
December 16, 2023
childhood fav. used to reread this all the time
Displaying 1 - 30 of 701 reviews