Gooney Bird Greene, by Lois Lowry

One day a girl named Gooney Bird came to school and her classmates wanted to hear stories about Gooney Bird, like how she got her name and how she came from China in a flying carpet. Sometimes things are unexpected, like the flying carpet was not a magic carpet -- it flew out of a van's window with Gooney Bird in it and unrolled! I like Gonney Bird because she has some extraordinary stories to tell her class.

If you like unsuspectingness, surprises, and outrageous real stories, you should read this book.