Chasing Redbird
by Sharon Creech
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sharon CreechIllustrator: Marc Burckhardt
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-02-14
ISBN: 0064406962
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: HarperCollins
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780064406963
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Chasing Redbird
Book Review: Chasing Redbird
Summary: 5 Stars
Chasing Redbird is a heart warming, realistic, novel written by Sharon Creech. This book deals with issues of loneliness, following your dreams, and trust in others and yourself. Throughout the novel these traits are followed and sometimes others join. This book is a fantasy though it could happen in real life, and it is praised by children from ages 9-12, but some adults do enjoy it. The main character in Chasing Redbird is Zinny, also known as Zinnia. Zinnia is a courageous, heart-warming, 13-year-old girl who feels responsible for the deaths of her aunt and cousin. Without them she feels lost. Her Uncle Nate, her aunt’s husband and cousin’s father, has lost his mind. He believes he has proof that Jessie is alive, and he always goes on walks, that is where he says he sees her. While Zinny’s aunt, Jessie or Redbird, is alive she plays a very large role in Zinny’s life, Zinny looks to her aunt as a mother whom she confides in and shares more than with her own mother. Though Zinny has a large family of brothers and sisters, she always seems to be left out. Then that summer Zinny discovers a trail in her backyard that she soon learns leads to a neighboring town. Zinny is determined to finish the trail by the end of summer vacation all by herself, so she goes to ask her parents if she can camp along the trail so she can progress faster. Amazingly her parents let her, after a lot of debating. Meanwhile an old friend of the family’s moves back in town along with her son, Jake. Zinny wasn’t impressed when Jake started giving her gifts because in the past boys had used her to get to May, her older sister. While on the trail Zinny discovers someone special and gets help from someone unexpected. She also learns more about the deaths of her close relatives. As the author writes in the story, “Life is like a bowl of spaghetti, once in awhile you get meatball.” This explains the purpose and meaning to the book. Zinny’s life is boring and uneventful until the death of her aunt and cousin, meeting Jake Boone, and the trail. With all of these events arising from nowhere Zinny is overwhelmed and confused. The main theme besides the saying is, to follow your heart. For example if you’re in a situation where you have two choices and in your stomach and heart you feel this sensation to do one compared to the other, go with your instincts. The theme in Chasing Redbird is easy to understand and relate to in everyday life. I loved this book! I enjoyed it so much because it was easy to understand, because the author wrote it in everyday language and it was believable the whole time. All of the elements that made up the story were well written and provoked thoughts in my mind. The setting was very important to the story because if Zinny didn’t find the trail in her backyard she would have never found the secret in her family’s past, and if she never found that information the story could have never happened the way it did because the story is based on her aunt and the mysterious past of the Taylor family. The plot in this story was of perfection too. It was detailed and went at a medium pace, not too fast where you would have to re-read stuff but it made you think and carried strongly throughout the novel. The characters were all very consistent, detailed, and realistic, they can probably relate to someone in your life. The reader can feel each and every character’s feelings and thoughts, which was nicely written by the author in 1st person. This is the third book that I’ve read by Sharon Creech. The first is the Newbery Medal Winner, Walk Two Moons and the second is The Wanderer. Chasing Redbird and Walk Two Moons are alike in the fact that Zinny and Sal, from Walk Two Moons, are friends and they both deal with the issues of loneliness and trust. The Wanderer and Chasing Redbird are similar because both girls are very close to their families. Another book that has the same theme is The Face of the Milk Carton series. This is alike in the way that these two girls discover a secret from their family’s past. This book is on the top of my list because it was easy to relate to and taught me to trust my instincts. It also was attractive to me and kept me on the edge of my seat so I had to keep reading.... Besides being able to relate to the characters in Chasing Redbird, I also learned an important lesson; to follow your heart no matter what, because your gut feeling always knows what’s right. Not only is that theory directed towards kids, adults often rely on it too, so this book could be read and understood, not only by kids, but by adults coming from that point of view. Anyone should be able to relate and understand this book.
Summary of Chasing Redbird
It started out as an ordinary summer. But the minute thirteen-year-old Zinny covered the old, overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her family's house, she realized that things were about to change.
Right from the start, Zinny knew that uncovering the trail would be more than just a summer project. It was her chance to finally make people notice her, and to have a place she could call her very own. But more than that, Zinny knew that the trail somehow held the key to all kinds of questions. And that -- the only way to understand her family, her Aunt Jessie's death, and herself, was to find out where it went.
From the author of the Newbery Medal-winning Walk Two Moons, here is an intricately woven tale of a young girl who sets out in search of her place in the world -- and discovers it in her own backyard.
Always the quiet (and often forgotten) middle child in a bustling family, Zinnia's life begins to change when she stumbles upon a hidden, overgrown pathway that stretches from the edge of her family's farm into the great unknown. Determined to find where the path leads, Zinnia begins the daunting task of uncovering brambles and weeds along every inch of its length. In powerful, honest, down-home prose, Newbery-winner Sharon Creech delivers a dazzling portrait of a girl who's not afraid to journey into her family's mysterious past in order to find her own way into adulthood. Watching Zinnia bloom will warm your heart.
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