Chasing Redbird

Responding to Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech

Harpercollins.com says:
"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."

My thoughts:
Wow. great story. I've read one of her other books- and I love how she mentions Sal from Walk Two Moons. The protagonist is brash and witty- a great kid. Her humor just cracks me up. She uses marvelous similes. there's some love interest in here-who steals things to get her attention- but nothing too sappy (as you'll see from my quotes later). It's a great adventure for our protagonist, Zinny. She's discovering things about herself- her family, the past, and where she might like to go in the future. Zinny is only 13 years old, so this might be a little young for high schoolers. I'd recommend it for grades 5-8. It's very simply written, but with great style and imagery. Quick read. Once you start, you don't want to stop. Polished it off in about 5 hours. Word Nerd Seal of Approval it gets. Use it in my classroom I would. Typing like Yoda I am.

Things they say in the book:

"I worshiped Tommy Salami. I thought of him day and night, I dreamed about him, and I wrote his name in all my school books. As far as I was concerned, Tommy Salami had hung the moon and stars; that's how great I thought he was" (36). (Z explaining how guys usually pay attention to her only to get closer to her sister.)

"They all plied me with sugar-mouthed flattery and gifts, and they all eventually ended up with May. I might as well have been a pig in a dog race" (37). LOL

"The contents of my stomach were tumbling around like socks in the clothes dryer" (54).

"You might think that I would've been convinced by this puppy, that I'd believe that Jake really did like me and not May. But I wasn't convinced. Tommy Salami had gone on giving me gifts for a long, long time. So had the others. You couldn't trust boys, I had decided, no matter how nice they seemed, no matter how many gifts they shoved into your hands, no matter what they said. I guess you could say my mind was pretty much made up about Jake Boone and what he was up to" (72). She's a smart cookie.

"I plunged through nettles and thorns, pawing at the ground like a crazed badger" (89).

"Of course it's a picture. You don't think he's gone and stuck a sack of potatoes in there, do you?" May responding to her sister's question about a picture being in the camera.

"I believe I turned purple when she said this" (112).

"But that day, I was like a bull with his tail on fire. That fence was in my way and it had to go" (127).

"I didn't think I ought to mention about feeling that if I didn't finish this trail, I was going to be struck down by the hand of God" (137).

"My thoughts were jumping around like peas on a hot shovel" (137). WHO says that?!

"He was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" (145).

"We were getting a little sappy, but sometimes a little sap is nice. I wouldn't want to drown in it, though" (260).