"The Great Unexpected" by Sharon Creech. Ages 8-12. 226 Pages. + short excerpt.

In Blackbird Tree lived two orphan girls: Naomi Deans, brimming with curiosity, and Lizzie Scattering, who could talk the ears off a cornfield. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens, for she knows all the peculiar people in town. But then the strangely charming Finn boy drops out of a tree. And thr Dingle Dingle man appears, asking questions. Curious surprises are revealed-three locked trunks, a crooked bridge, and that boy. Soon Naomi and Lizzie find themselves zooming toward a future neither could ever have imagined. Meanwhile, across the ocean, an old lady whose heart has been deceived concocts a plan....