Chasing Redbird

Zinny is the quiet child in her big family, and after the death of her Aunt Jessie (the Redbird of the title), she hardly speaks at all. When Zinny finds the start of a pioneer trail on the family farm, she begins a journey that leads her away from home and towards the secrets of her own childhood.

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.