First published in Great Britain in 1990, this witty novel is composed entirely of a 13-year-old girl's journal entries. The protagonist is Mary Lou Finney, who appeared as a secondary character in the author's Newbery Medal-winning Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins, 1994). As the second oldest in a family of five children, Mary Lou views her everyday homelife as maddeningly dull one moment and completely chaotic the next. When her 17-year-old cousin Carl Ray comes to spend the summer, he seems to register on the maddeningly dull side. So too does Mary Lou's reading of The Odyssey as part of another school assignment. Against a backdrop of typical teenage concerns (peer relationships, sibling rivalry, first love) Mary Lou's life as she records it gradually begins to seem more and more like a Greek epic, with Carl Ray as a modern day Telemachus in search of his father. The parallels between the two are never overtly stated: between Mary Lou's hilarious capsule summaries of The Odyssey and her exaggerated account of the events in her life, Sharon Creech has left plenty of space for readers to figure out the elements the two stories have in common, as she plays with plots and conventions that have been part of human experience for thousands of years. (Ages 9-14)

"By turns sarcastic, tender, and irreverent, this will quickly make its way into the hands of readers who loved Walk Two Moons." —Kirkus

This beloved prequel to bestselling author Sharon Creech's Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons chronicles the life of a thirteen-year-old during her most chaotic and romantic summer ever via journal entries, filled with hilarious observations on love, death, and the confusing mechanics of holding hands.

Mary Lou 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.

Named one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing!

• First Crush: From awkward conversations at the pool to the nerve-wracking chaos of holding hands for the first time, Mary Lou’s diary entries perfectly capture the fizz and panic of a first crush on Alex Cheevey.
• Summer Journal Format: Read along with thirteen-year-old Mary Lou’s hilarious and private summer journal, filled with sarcastic observations, secret thoughts, and footnotes on her crazy, "absolutely normal" life.
• Dealing with Grief: When a friendly new neighbor suddenly passes away, Mary Lou must navigate her confusing feelings about life and death for the very first time.
• Heartwarming Family Story: When her quiet, mysterious cousin Carl Ray comes to stay, Mary Lou’s already chaotic home gets turned completely upside down, leading to a summer she will never forget.