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Sharon Creech Box Set: Absolutely Normal Chaos, Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird
Selected novels by Newbery Award winner Sharon Creech -- Walk Two Moons, Absolutely Normal Chaos, and Chasing Redbird -- now in a boxed set.
- GenresFiction
Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
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About the author
Sharon Creech
70 books3,287 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 18, 2009
Absolutely Normal Chaos:I really like book like this. It gave much more behind detail to "Walk Two Moons".
Walk Two Moons: This was a very good book. It was suspenseful,and had a little of every genre. It was, like most of Sharon's books, the kind of book you don't want to put down.
Chains Redbird: If I had to describe this in one word, it would be: amazing. This is a truly fantastic book, and will probably be my faveorite for the rest of my life.
Walk Two Moons: This was a very good book. It was suspenseful,and had a little of every genre. It was, like most of Sharon's books, the kind of book you don't want to put down.
Chains Redbird: If I had to describe this in one word, it would be: amazing. This is a truly fantastic book, and will probably be my faveorite for the rest of my life.
May 5, 2024
Some books aren’t books- they are direct links to your childhood and what it means to be the “core” you. For me, the book within this series, “Absolutely Normal Chaos” taught me one lasting thing as a child, that has persisted into my adulthood: like the author, Mary Lou, I am also best understood (by myself and others) when I have had a chance to write things out. What an amazing literary series- and one that will insist upon growing with you, rather than against you, over time. I often find myself nested with Absolutely Normal Chaos between ages 12-(currently) 37, when life gets too loud, or distracted, or off kilter from the clear visions of who I saw myself as, as a pre-teen woman. Highly recommend this series and author generally to any person who works with, loves, or generally used to be, a young person in need of humor, metaphor, and hope. I’ll personally never forget the belly ache of laughter the entry about Carl Ray and the socks gave me! Then, or now.
September 21, 2007
One of my favorite young adult novels.
February 20, 2008
I read these when I was young and honestly I have never enjoyed any books ever as much as I did these.
April 23, 2008
her books are the best!!!
Read
May 1, 2008Good book as well
June 7, 2008
This was a pretty good book. Some parts of it were a little out there but it was ok.
Want to read
December 18, 2009i learn that the lonetic became phoebe's brother
and sal mother she died with carcrash so she will never come back
and sal mother she died with carcrash so she will never come back
February 9, 2010
This is a perfectly acceptable little juvenile fiction book. It
June 30, 2010
excellent books. Walk two Moons was my first Sharon Creech novel, and I think it's one of her best.
Read
May 25, 2011Added by Amanda, Fall 2009
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews