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3rd out of 14 books
—
23 voters
Chasing Redbird
To Zinny Taylor, life is like trying to untangle spaghetti - she needs to escape the chaos of her family. So when she finds a long-forgotten trail in the wild woods near her home, she resolves to follow it. It's a journey that leads her to unravel the dark secrets of her aunt's life - and her own. And while Zinny chases ghosts in the woods, gorgeous Jake Boone is determine...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
March 23rd 2001
by MacMillan Children's Books
(first published February 27th 1997)
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This book was a good book. It was one of my favorite childhood books, but I was suprised at how different I remembered the plot. Sharon Creech does an awesome job describing the exact thought of each character as well as the relationships between characters. The main character, Zinny, is a little younger than myself so I thought it got a little slow at times. I especially liked the ending because more action happened with Zinny and her secret trail. I recommend this book to younger adults or any...more
Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech is about Zinnia Taylor. Zinnia (Zinny) has grown up closer to her aunt and uncle then to her own parents. It is probably because her cousin Rose died when they were little and they were the best of friends. Zinny feels like it is her fault Rose died of whooping cough. When Zinny is thirteen, she uncovers a trail in the woods. She takes it as her own trail and says she is an explorer. One day when she is clearing the woods, she finds a medallion with TNWM on it. S...more
Chasing Redbird is written by Sharon Creech, and is about thirteen-year old Zinny Taylor who lives in Kansas on her families farm. She grows up with her two older brothers and her Aunt "Redbird" and Uncle Nate. She grows up becoming best friends with her cousin Rose all her childhood until she suddenly dies, of whooping cough at a young age. Zinny spends almost every second she can trying to find a way to get away from her family and the seldom privacy of her small rural town, where everybody kn...more
Pd.5 11-16-12
Chasing Redbird Critical Analysis
In Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech a young girl named Zinny finds a trail and she devotes her whole summer to clear it, also she uncovers many mysteries that have been unsolved. First, on page 147 chapter 26 “Words were fluttering around my head.” The word fluttering helps the reader sense how Zinny is feeling. The sentence would be boring if it was just “I was thinking words.” The verb fluttering adds color to the writing. Next, on page 97 chapter...more
Chasing Redbird Critical Analysis
In Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech a young girl named Zinny finds a trail and she devotes her whole summer to clear it, also she uncovers many mysteries that have been unsolved. First, on page 147 chapter 26 “Words were fluttering around my head.” The word fluttering helps the reader sense how Zinny is feeling. The sentence would be boring if it was just “I was thinking words.” The verb fluttering adds color to the writing. Next, on page 97 chapter...more
If I could, I would give this book 2 1/2 starts. I'm not sure if I liked it or not. I didn't really like the characters. I found Zinny was selfish in many ways. I understand that she was dealing with grief, but the whole thing seemed really contrived.
I didn't like Jake, and I wouldn't want my daughter to date him - ever. He is dishonest, but then again, so is Zinny. I didn't like that Zinny was friends with Sal. That part bugged me. I loved Walk Two Moons, and I didn't want Zinny interloping on...more
I didn't like Jake, and I wouldn't want my daughter to date him - ever. He is dishonest, but then again, so is Zinny. I didn't like that Zinny was friends with Sal. That part bugged me. I loved Walk Two Moons, and I didn't want Zinny interloping on...more
Ini mengisahkan tentang seorang gadis bernama Zinny Taylor yang tinggal di pinggiran kota kecil Bybanks bersama keluarga besarnya. Ia merasa terasingkan dalam keluarganya sendiri, ini dikarenakan dia memiliki 6 saudara, 3 adik laki - laki, seorang adik perempuan dan 2 kakak perempuan. Mereka adalah Will, Ben, Sam, Bonnie,May, Gretcheen. Namun May kakaknya yang menyebabkan dia tidak betah di rumah, karena May selalu mengatai Zinny aneh dan pelit. May terkenal sangat cantik. Banyak teman laki- lak...more
"Life is a bowl of spaghetti...every now and then you get a meatball" and "sometimes it's a good meatball and sometimes it's a bad meatball".
A really sweet book about a 13 year old girl who uncovers a trail and needs to see the trail uncovered all the way to the end. There are many lessons she learns along the way and mysteries she is able to put to rest. The book cover suggests readers aged 8-12, but I think it could go up to high school.
While taking notes, there were a lot of different categor...more
A really sweet book about a 13 year old girl who uncovers a trail and needs to see the trail uncovered all the way to the end. There are many lessons she learns along the way and mysteries she is able to put to rest. The book cover suggests readers aged 8-12, but I think it could go up to high school.
While taking notes, there were a lot of different categor...more
This book is about Zinnia Taylor, a young girl in a large family who is trying to find her place in the world. When she comes upon an old trail while exploring, she devotes her summer to clearing the entire thing. Throughout her journeys on the trail, she learns about family secrets and parts of her past that she never knew about. As she learns about nature, love, and death, Zinnia finds her place in the world and grows on a deeper level.
I really liked this book because it contains three elemen...more
I really liked this book because it contains three elemen...more
"Sometimes it seems too crowded on our side, and you don’t know who you are. You feel like everybody’s spaghetti is all tangled in one pot… I discovered an old trail, overgrown with grass and weeds. I knew instantly that it was mine and mine alone. What I didn’t know was how long or how hard it would be to uncover the whole thing, or that it would turn into such an obsession…the trail was just like the spaghetti of me and my family…it took a heap of doing to untangle it."
"Sometimes, one grasshop...more
"Sometimes, one grasshop...more
In Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech, Zinny wants to finish her trail, but there is not enough time, so she asks her parents if she could go up the trail and they say yes.Throughout the book Sharon uses many writing techniques to engage the reader. First, on page 147 she uses simile to compare Zinny’s thinking to moths: ”Words fluttered around my mind like moths to a light bulb.” This technique is engaging the reader by giving a more vivid picture of how Zinny thinks. Next, on page 97, she uses...more
Much in the vein of her Newberry-winning "Walk Two Moons", "Chasing Redbirds" tells the story of a young girl on a journey of discovery, searching the story of a past she has lost or been cut off from. Although Zinnia doesn't cross the country, her efforts to clear a trail lead her to both reveal truths about difficulties in her own past, while at the same time helping her to resolve issues within her own life and family.
Wonderful characterizations of the protaganist and her family, as well as...more
Wonderful characterizations of the protaganist and her family, as well as...more
As with Sarah Dessen's novels, I find it difficult to review a Sharon Creech book. There are some books I want to read, dissect, and puzzle out, and there are others I just want to enjoy. Creech's books fall under that second category; they're so wonderful and also so much a part of my childhood that reviewing them seems entirely foreign to me. That said, I think that reviews can help highlight books and even though this is an older book, I really want to talk about it and highlight it.
Zinnia is...more
Zinnia is...more
**SPOILER ALERT**
This book was great. Sharon Creech does an awesome job writing about people dealing with loss. But this book was different, it wasn't exactly what other people go through. Zinny while uncovering "her" trail finds a coin that seemed oddly familiar, she later learns in the book that when she was younger she had buried that coin there after her cousin died. So in a way the book was a mix between a mystery and a fiction story. But in the end once the mystery is solved it becomes cl...more
This book was great. Sharon Creech does an awesome job writing about people dealing with loss. But this book was different, it wasn't exactly what other people go through. Zinny while uncovering "her" trail finds a coin that seemed oddly familiar, she later learns in the book that when she was younger she had buried that coin there after her cousin died. So in a way the book was a mix between a mystery and a fiction story. But in the end once the mystery is solved it becomes cl...more
Mar 04, 2009
Meghan Cobb
is currently reading it
it's very sad in the first 14 pages
Poor Zinny. She's one of what feels like 10 children (really it's seven) and she is constantly being asked "which on are you?" Then she discovers a trail that runs from her house to the next village over and she decides to clear it all by herself. Not only is Zinny clearing a trail, she's trying to understand if Jake, the handsome boy at the grocery store, likes her or her older sister, and Zinny is trying to understand her Uncle Nate after the loss of his wife. It all comes tumbling together wh...more
I really enjoyed this book because of the way Sharon Creech created the characters and how well each chapter fit into the other. I especially liked how she created Zinny's Uncle Nate because at first he seemed like a normal person that wasn't very important and then once her Aunt Jessie died he changed. Uncle Nate made the lesson come through that when someone dies you have to get over it, you can't just sit around and cry. He made this lesson come through by pretending to have her there and th...more
I was about half-way through the book and it felt like it didn't start. Yes, you have a large family. Yes, you're sister gets all the guys. Big whoop. I'm not a big fan of books where the characters don't act their age. or how a modern day person would act. If I was a thirteen year old and a guy told me straight up that he liked me, I wouldn't waste a second. Instead, this girls calls him names like they're still in 2nd grade. Seriously... and how can Jake put up with Zinnia. I mean this town mu...more
This has been my favorite book since I read it the first time, when I was 11. I'm now 22 and it still holds a very special place in my heart, although I have of course, by now, read better, deeper, more engrossing adult books. However, this is still one of my favorites. Even the pain and tragedy in this book is beautiful. As a child, I was fascinated and drawn to the tragic aspects of this novel. It opened up a whole new world for me. I couldn't drag myself away from the story. I must have read...more
SUMMARY: 13 year old Zinny Taylor has nothing to call her own. She soon finds a trail in which she uncovers.
PASSAGE: From far below came the mournful train whistle, and I instictively turned in the direction of the farm, thinking of the ash tree and the cardinals and Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate. My family would be clattering around the dinner table, and I wondereed if anyone would notice I was gone. Out flew another scene: my parents getting up early that morning to see me off. And another: Sam s...more
PASSAGE: From far below came the mournful train whistle, and I instictively turned in the direction of the farm, thinking of the ash tree and the cardinals and Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate. My family would be clattering around the dinner table, and I wondereed if anyone would notice I was gone. Out flew another scene: my parents getting up early that morning to see me off. And another: Sam s...more
Chasing Redbird is a very unique piece of young adult fiction. This sequel to "walk two moons" is set in rural Bybanks, Kentucky where thirteen year old Zinny Taylor is struggling to find herself in a family of many. She feels responsible for her aunt's death and also for the death of her cousin who died from whooping cough that she had caught from Zinny. Her parents don't have much time for her and her aunt was her substitute mother. Zinny discovers a trail near their house and quickly becomes...more
In Chasing Redbird, Sharon Creech takes on topics of death and grieving, coming of age, forging identities, and being part of a family -- all in terms accessible to young readers. Zinnia Taylor, the story's protagonist, is thirteen years old and feels lost in the swarm of her six brothers and sisters. She gets little individual attention and does not feel she has much identity of her own. She is also struggling to come to terms with the long-ago death of her cousin and the more recent death of h...more
Chasing
Redbird by:Faith Ross
It all started out as an ordinary summer. But the minute thirteen-year-old Zinny discovered the old,overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her parents house . From the start Zinny new that uncovering the trail would be more than just a summer project it was her chance to make people finally notice her but then this this kid named jake started bringing her presents and may(Zinny's sister) had like the kid and may got l jelouse and got really mad but then...more
Teton County Library Call No: J CREECH
Marisa's Rating: 4 Stars
This was one of my favorites growing up. Just recently re-read Chasing Redbird and it was just as great as I remember. The book is the story of Zinnie,a girl who discovers a trail near her house and vows to uncover it completely. She comes form a large family that get to play around outside all day- sounds like a great childhood. However, with her aunt's death and the subsequent sadness that comes upon the family Zinnie has to find a...more
Marisa's Rating: 4 Stars
This was one of my favorites growing up. Just recently re-read Chasing Redbird and it was just as great as I remember. The book is the story of Zinnie,a girl who discovers a trail near her house and vows to uncover it completely. She comes form a large family that get to play around outside all day- sounds like a great childhood. However, with her aunt's death and the subsequent sadness that comes upon the family Zinnie has to find a...more
This was one of my favorites growing up. Just recently re-read Chasing Redbird and it was just as great as I remember. The book is the story of Zinnie,a girl who discovers a trail near her house and vows to uncover it completely. She comes form a large family that get to play around outside all day- sounds like a great childhood. However, with her aunt's death and the subsequent sadness that comes upon the family Zinnie has to find a way to come to terms with the death and find a life of their o...more
"And yet, I could see how they were trying so hard to keep the dead alive,to defy that darkness sweeping in and overtaking them." pg 244
""Sometimes I think I see Aunt Jessie and baby Rose running through the hills together, and sometimes I race down the hill after them. I know they aren't really there, that this is an image in my mind, one that I want to see. I am not completely loopy. But I do often think that there's a very fine line between people in your head and 'real' people out there." pg...more
""Sometimes I think I see Aunt Jessie and baby Rose running through the hills together, and sometimes I race down the hill after them. I know they aren't really there, that this is an image in my mind, one that I want to see. I am not completely loopy. But I do often think that there's a very fine line between people in your head and 'real' people out there." pg...more
Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech tells the story of 13-year-old Zinnia “Zinny” Taylor whose life thus far has been defined by her last name and how she fits in with her large and chaotic family. One of seven children, Zinny is in a constant struggle to assert herself as an individual. Throughout the years, Zinny has discovered an escape from the frenzy of her own household in the “quiet zone” of her Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate’s house. She becomes close with them and their daughter Rose as a youn...more
"Chasing Redbird" by Sharon Creech is the story of a 13 year old girl who is trying to find her place in the world. She struggles as one of seven children living on a small farm in Kentucky. Feeling unappreciated, Zinny begins the enormous task of clearing a 20 mile long trail near her house. She must also deal with typical teenager problems, including receiving gifts from her 16 year old neighbor, feeling insignificant compared to her older sisters, and the guilt of the mysterious death of her...more
Chasing Redbird is about a girl name Zinnia Taylor who has three older sisters and three younger brothers, and nobody really knows which Taylor she is, except for Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate.But all that changes when Zinnia finds a trail in the hills, overgrown with weeds.She takes to clearing it, from Bybanks to Chocton.
I absolutely loved this book. it pulled me in, but not because it was adventurous or mysteriou, but I just wanted to see what happened. Sharon Creech made the characters feel ali...more
I absolutely loved this book. it pulled me in, but not because it was adventurous or mysteriou, but I just wanted to see what happened. Sharon Creech made the characters feel ali...more
I feel that my start rating system is not really fair, since regarding some respects I'd say this book was better than just ok, and overall I could give it only two. The book was not, for me, as meaningful or memorable as Walk Two Moons, I absolutely loved that one and giggled to pieces through it. This one has some very interesting concepts in it, a lost child, a replacement, relationships with real vs. fake parents. But I felt like I got lost near the end, and didn't really understand how thin...more
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I was born in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up there with my noisy and rowdy family: my parents (Ann and Arvel), my sister (Sandy), and my three brothers (Dennis, Doug and Tom).
For a fictional view of what it was like growing up in my family, see Absolutely Normal Chaos. (In that book, the brothers even have the same names as my own brothers.) Our house was not only full of...more
More about Sharon Creech...
For a fictional view of what it was like growing up in my family, see Absolutely Normal Chaos. (In that book, the brothers even have the same names as my own brothers.) Our house was not only full of...more
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“Maybe it was the same with people: if you studied them,you'd see new and different things. But would you like what you saw? Did it depend on who was doing the looking?”
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