Absolutely Normal Chaos

This was one of my favorite novels as a young teen. Creech is a very truthful writer, never talking down to her audience or making unfair presumptions - she seems to be one of the few writers who really remembers what it feels like to be young. The family drama is hilariously, tragically, relatable. The main character (a strong young girl) writes about her growing sexuality achingly honestly - unsure of herself, but unwilling to make judgment or censure. I'd recommend this to any young teen, especially a young woman. It's an older book, but in no way outdated. The relationship discussed is heterosexual, so a good pairing would be "Annie On My Mind" or "Boy Meets Boy".

Sharon Creech introduced us to Mary Lou Finney as a classmate of Sal Hiddle in her Newbury-award-winning novel, Walk Two Moons. In this follow-up, Absolutely Normal Chaos, we get to see more into the life of Miss Mary Lou, and what a life it is! Mary Lou’s thirteenth summer turns out to be one of the most exciting, confusing, and crazy times of her entire life, and teenagers will definitely be able to relate. There’s Alex Cheevey, “whose skin is always a little pink”; her boy-crazy best friend, Beth Ann; and then there’s her taciturn, “cabbage-headed” cousin, Carl Ray, who turns out to have the most exciting, confusing, and crazy story of all. The novel is told from Mary Lou’s journal, where she documents the constant show more turbulence of adolescence. Creech’s teenage voice is spot on, even with the dated slang.
What I liked best about this book was how normal everything was. There are no vampires, werewolves, or angelic halfmen cluttering up the story, just the absolute gushing of a teenage girl experiencing her first romance. Mary Lou’s relationship with Alex Cheevey is described as a series of confusing moments of soaring delight and soul-crushing lows, but you can always sense Creech’s empathy for her characters; she isn’t laughing at teens, she’s identifying with them. For example, the first time Alex holds Mary Lou’s hand, she is silently dying inside, not sure if she is behaving how she should with a boy. Mary Lou also has to put up with large family, who are rumply and lovable, but also exasperating for a teenage girl. But it is Carl Ray, who shows up one day and forgets to make the bed, who lends this story its heart. Mary Lou’s slowly burgeoning relationship with her gawky cousin gently teaches her that there is more to life than cliques and boyfriends. Carl Ray’s character is slowly, beautifully revealed throughout the book, and is the perfect complement to Mary Lou’s warmth and outgoing nature.
This book is at times laugh-out-loud funny, and at times heartbreaking, but it is always full of good, old-fashioned human goodness. No vampires required. For grades 6 and up. show less

What begins as a boring school assignment to write a journal quickly turns into an epic account of Mary Lou Finney's summer. Her teenage cousin Carl Ray's arrival sets off a chain of events that make this summer much more eventful than she ever anticipated. Though the book was originally published in 1990, readers will still identify with Mary Lou's experiences and emotions (frustrations! excitement! confusion!) as she navigates life as a 13-year-old. Readers from large families may recognize aspects of their own homes in Mary Lou's story, or -- for only children, such as myself -- may appreciate insight into the hilarious chaos of the large Finney family.

Mary Lou is a minor character in Creech's previous novel, Walk Two Moons. For show more tweens who loved that book and demand more like it, Absolutely Normal Chaos provides another view into those characters' world through Mary Lou and her family and friends. show less

Mary Lou Finney is assigned to keep a journal during the summer vacation, and boy does she. We follow multiple story lines in her life. Her best friend Beth Ann, who is boy-crazy and a bit immature, goes back and forth between two boys, and longs to be a part of the in-clique. Mary Lou herself experiences her own first love, with non-talkative Alex Cheevey. She toils through reading The Odyssey, and provides her often amusing commentary on that epic. The main line is the story of her cousin, Carl Ray, who comes to live with the Finney's for the summer, "so he can find a job." At first Carl Ray is an appalling guest in the home. Unhelpful, unresponsive, and while not necessarily rude or mean - certainly not friendly. But as Mary Lou's show more journal moves along, we (and she) learn more and more about Carl Ray, and there is more to him than initially meets the eye. show less

The title pretty much says it all.

Mary Lou Finney, a character seen in "Walk Two Moons," narrates this book completely through her summer journal, and ends up having more fun with the project than she ever expected. And a crazier summer than she ever expected.

Between a bunch of rambunctious siblings, having to read "The Odyssey" (which Mary Lou questions throughout in hilarious fashion) over summer, a blossoming crush on her neighbor Alex, and her very odd cousin Carl Ray staying with them, Mary Lou can't see how she's ever going to enjoy her vacation.

But chaos has a way of bringing unexpected results.

In Sharon Creech's typical quirky style, Mary Lou's narration is humorous and realistic, sometimes jumping wildly around as journals show more often do. And by the end of it, the story brings you right about to the time when Creech's other incredible novel, "Walk Two Moons," begins. show less

An easy, and mostly enjoyable read. As someone who did a good amount of journaling around the same age the protagonist does I thought the author did a good job capturing the way a young teenager would write. I went with two stars because while I didnt have any big issues with the book, its also not one of my favorites. Its ok, and if you are doing a read thru of Sharon Creech's books (like I am at the moment) its worth including, but on its own it doesnt stand up as well.

If you've read Sharon Creech's 1995 Newbery Medalist, Walk Two Moons, you might recognize some characters from that one in Absolutely Normal Chaos, Creech's 1990 novel, which is built around the journal assignment that also appears in Walk Two Moons. The Finney family, as well as some of Phoebe and Sal's classmates from Walk Two Moons, made their first appearance in this book.  Absolutely Normal Chaos did not seem to have much press until after Creech won the Newbery, which is why many seem to think it was written after Walk Two Moons.  Nope.  It came before.



Mary Lou Finney, the second of the five children, is the journal writer in this book.  And what a journal it is!  She writes "on and on" sometimes, just like her best friend show more Beth Ann talks "on and on" about her latest boyfriend.  I would hope thirteen-year-old Mary Lou just got caught up in the journal writing and didn't really intend to turn all this in to her teachers.



Author Sharon Creech says the inspiration for the book came when she was living in England and missing her family.  Just like Mary Lou, she actually has three younger brothers named Dennis, Doug, and Tom, but the book characters' behavior is fictional, just like those of her parents, older sister, and cousin (the latter two not named Maggie and Carl Ray in real life).  Creech "did have a cousin who came to live with us when I was Mary Lou’s age, and he was quite like the character Carl Ray is," and "Mary Lou gives her address in this book as 4059 Buxton Road—and that was my real address," although it was in South Euclid, Ohio, and not the fictional Easton of the book.



While some of the plot isn't too plausible (especially Carl Ray's story), the portrayal of family life at the unnamed time is.  There's a bit of timelessness in the setting of this novel that makes it appealing even today, 25 years after it was written, and nearly 60 years after the author was Mary Lou's age.  The only real clue it's not set in the present is the many references to telephones that are *not* cells (or smart) - the kids call each other and don't text.



The book addresses some serious issues - death (the next door neighbor, who is not elderly) and poverty (Mary Lou travels with Carl Ray back to his home in Appalachia - no electricity, no flushing toilet).



Besides the summer journal to keep, Mary Lou also has a summer reading list.  She picks out a book of poems by Robert Frost and the Odyssey to read, and makes comments and writes notes about them in this book as well.  Her commentary is quite amusing.



Probably the funniest part of the book was the stretch in the journal where Mary Lou's mother tells her to stop saying "God," "stupid," and "stuff" so much, and to expand her vocabulary.  So Mary Lou uses a thesaurus to find synonyms and starts using those instead, even in her journal.  The results are hilarious (from page 139):

Not much elixir happened today.  Alex had to work all day, so I stayed home, watched Tommy, read some more Odyssey, and quintessence. 

Mrs. Furtz came over again, all crying and nub, about some cabbageheaded letter she got....I do feel sorry for her and all, I really do, but Omnipotent!

I like this book cover, with its with its flying pages of journal-writing.



© Amanda Pape - 2015



[The audiobook, and a print copy for reference, were borrowed from and returned to the Hood County Library and my university library respectively.] show less