Absolutely Normal Chaos

Absolutely Normal Chaos is a children’s novel published in 1990 by the American author Sharon Creech. It tells the story of 13-year-old Mary Lou Finney, who documents an eventful summer of romance and loss in a summer journal.

Sharon Creech (1945) is an American writer of children’s books. The author’s first children’s book, the novel proved a key starting point for Creech’s writerly imagination, as several of its characters, including Mary Lou Finney, Alex Cheevey and Mr. Birkway, appear in her Newbery award-winning 1995 title Walk Two Moons. Other works by this author include Love That Dog, Heartbeat, and Hate That Cat.

This study guide is based on the Macmillan Children's Books Kindle Edition, published on September 17, 2020.

Plot Summary

Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou Finney is assigned to write in a summer journal. At the start of the journal, she feels that there will be nothing much to write about, as she has been left behind by popular classmates who are growing up faster than her. Mary Lou also faces a summer of looking after her younger brothers while her older sister Maggie shirks her duties.