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''Chasing Redbird'' is a book by
Sharon Creech Sharon Creech (born July 29, 1945) is an American writer of children's novels. She was the first American winner of the Carnegie Medal for British children's books and the first person to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British ...
published in 1997. The book centers on Zinnia Taylor. Zinny sometimes mentions her friend Sal, which is a reference to Salamanca Hiddle, the protagonist of the 1995
Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...
-winning ''
Walk Two Moons ''Walk Two Moons'' is a novel written by Sharon Creech, published by HarperCollins in 1994 and winner of the 1995 Newbery Medal. The novel was originally intended as a follow-up to Creech's previous novel ''Absolutely Normal Chaos''; but, the ide ...
''.


Plot

Zinnia "Zinny" Taylor, an initially quiet, yet sometimes outrageous thirteen-year-old girl. She enjoys the care of her aunt and uncle, Jessie and Nate, as her parents are preoccupied with her siblings, and she enjoys spending time outdoors. Jessie and Nate live in a home that fits snug against the Taylor home, and Zinny prefers to spend her time with her aunt and uncle, while they mostly go on nature walks. They once had a daughter, Rose, around Zinny's age who died (of whooping cough). Aunt Jessie prefers not to talk about her daughter. Because Rose caught the cough from Zinny, she has always, in some way, blamed herself for Rose's death. Years later, Zinny accidentally rediscovers a large overgrown trail that is over two hundred years old. When her aunt unexpectedly dies, Zinny blames herself. Soon afterwards she begins to try to clear the trail. In her grief, the trail becomes an obsession, as she decides to clear and travel the entire length of it. Thinking clearing the trail is the only way to be forgiven by God, Zinny camps out on the trail to clear the trail before the end of the summer. At the same time Zinny learns to cope with her grief, her guilt, and a boy named Jake Boone, who she starts to have feelings for. Throughout the story she must attempt to get over the death of Rose and Aunt Jessie. She also tries to find out whether Jake returns her feelings or is just using her to get to her older sister, May. Through all this Zinny finally finds something to call her very own, the trail that she cleared. Throughout the story Creech uses flashbacks as a literary device, showing snippets of what Zinny's life was like before her aunt's death, and how her life changed after her dear aunt Jessie died.


References

{{Sharon Creech 1997 American novels American children's novels Novels by Sharon Creech 1997 children's books