One of our Books of the Year 2013 Prize-winning Sharon Creech tells a heart warming and delicate story of unexpected connections that lead to great happiness when they are unravelled. Friends Lizzie and Naomi, both of whom are orphans, meet Finn, a mysterious boy who seems to come from nowhere. But meeting him leads the two girls back in time and helps both of them to find their real families and the place they belong.
In the little town of Blackbird Tree a series of curious events unfold when Naomi and Lizzie, two spirited orphan girls, meet the strangely charming new boy, Finn. Three locked trunks, the mysterious Dingle Dangle man, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy change their lives forever. As the story alternates between their small town and across-the-ocean Ireland, two worlds are woven together, revealing that hearts can be mended and that there is indeed a gossamer thread that connects us all.
This is a stunning and unexpected tale in which curious things happen to strange and magical people and creatures. It's a story that will stay with you long after you've finished it and one that you will be drawn back to again and again. Sharon Creech won the Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler, was shortlisted for the Whitbread/Costa Award for Chasing Redbird, and won the prestigious Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons.
Praise for the book: ‘Creech’s characters are endearing and her writing is a delight in this intriguing book. One of those stories that stays with you long after you have finished reading.’ Booksellers’ Choice, The Bookseller
‘An enchanting tale to treasure in which ordinary folk find fairies’ gold, run across crooked bridges and mend their broken hearts.’ Kirkus Starred Review
Author
About Sharon Creech
Known for writing with a classic voice and unique style, Sharon Creech is the best-selling author of the Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons, and the Newbery Honor Book The Wanderer. She is also the first American in history to be awarded the CILIP Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler.
Her other works include the novels Love That Dog, Bloomability, Absolutely Normal Chaos, Chasing Redbird, and Pleasing the Ghost, and two picture books: A Fine, Fine School and Fishing in the Air. These stories are often centered around life, love, and relationships, especially family relationships. Ms. Creech's first novel for children, Absolutely Normal Chaos, was based on her own "rowdy and noisy" family. Growing up in a big family in Cleveland, Ohio, helped Ms. Creech learn to tell stories that wouldn't be forgotten in all of the commotion: "I learned to exaggerate and embellish, because if you didn't, your story was drowned out by someone else's more exciting one."
With a knack for storytelling and love of reading, a young Ms. Creech aspired to become a novelist: "To be able to create other worlds, to be able to explore mystery and myth, I couldn't imagine a better way to live. . .except perhaps to be a teacher, because teachers got to handle books all day long."
In college, Ms. Creech took her first writing courses and attended writing workshops. This renewed her enthusiasm for becoming a novelist. Following her studies in college and graduate school, Ms. Creech worked as an editorial assistant before deciding to become a teacher overseas. Now, after spending eighteen years teaching and writing in Europe, she and her husband have returned to the United States to live.
She and her husband now live in Maine, near a farm where her teenage granddaughter raises sheep.
