Chasing Redbird

by Sharon Creech

Book Overview

"Intriguing, delightful, and touching." --School Library Journal (starred review)"Creech's best yet." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)It started out as an ordinary summer. But the minute... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060269871
• ISBN13: 9780060269876
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Nostalgic Spaghetti

I read Chasing Redbird 22 years ago, and it has stuck out in my head as the best book I've ever read. There was something so incredibly magical about the adventure Zinny goes on- and I have been chasing that high ever since, but every book I've read just doesn't have the magic I'm looking for. It's amazing having this book in my hands now, as an adult, with the same cover that was on my book when I was 10. I highly recommend this one for folks of all ages; it's themes are family, self, and discovery. The humor is dry, there's a wild amount of siblings our fierce heroine must contend with, and a highly relatable cast.

A quick,fun read

I read Chasing Redbird in seventh grade,and now I'm in 9th.I would just have to say that this book is one of my favorites,despite the fact that it isn't a best selling novel or a classic,the types of books I usually read. Chasing Redbird is about,as you know,Zinny,the middle child of a large family who is often overlooked and made fun of by her brothers and sister.She stumbles upon a trail that leads to self-discovery and also answers many questions for her. The reason why I enjoyed this book so much was probably because I haven't read a story like it.Sharon Creech weaved together a story including humor,sadness,and even romance(in a teenage form).All those elements were expressed well throughout the book,as well as the importance of family. This book may seem mundane to many,but it wasn't for me.I don't really know who to recommend this to,but maybe to those who are willing to read a simple,intricate story.

Chasing Redbird

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

An amazing book by Sharon Creech!

This book was an awesome book. It was about a girl named Zinnia (Zinny for short). Zinny is kind of lost in her big family with her three sisters, her three brothers, her parents, and her aunt and uncle. When a tragic incident happens with her Aunt Jessie, she is beside herself with grief, and is convinced that what happened was her fault. One day, she is walking behind her house, and sees an overgrown trail, and decides to uncover the whole thing, from her little town all the way to Chocton. It turns out to be a very long way, and constantly along the trail, she finds things that relate to what is happening in her life at the moment. The end is very satisfying, and I am convinced that anyone (girls especially) from the ages of 10 to probably 14 or so will really enjoy this thought-provoking novel.

If you liked "Walk Two Moons", you'll love "Chasing Redbird"

I read Walk Two Moons a year ago and absolutely loved it. I read it about twelve times and my book is practically falling apart. I saw Chasing Redbird in a bookstore and grabbed it off the shelf. I was hooked by the first sentence. This is a book for everyone who's wanted to have something of their very own, and feels surpressed by a big family, but that doesn't really make a difference because I am an only child and I understood everything Zinny Taylor went through and cried for her. She had been forever with her Aunt and Uncle and her cousin Rose, her neighbours, and away from her huge, loud family. When her cousin Rose died from whooping cough that she caught from Zinny herself, Zinny's life was shattered. What made things worse was when her Aunt Jessie ('Redbird') died suddenly. Zinny yearns to get away, to remember whatever she can about her aunt and cousin, and to find her own identity. She discovers an old trail, that stone by stone she digs, all by herself, and as she is digging these stones, she is digging her mind. She finds memories of Rose that had been buried deep in her mind, and she also finds something else: herself. She had always been thought of as a stingy, quiet girl, but she always knew that that wasn't HER, it was just what was thought of her. She was still not very self-confident, though, as she thought that the VERY attentive Jake Boone did not like her, but May, her older sister. He proves her wrong, though. This is a magnificent piece of storytelling that grabs you and doesn't let you go until the very end.