Chasing Redbird

Zinny Taylor has a life 'as tangled as spaghetti' and which, after the death of her beloved aunt, Jessie, threatens to overwhelm her completely. In order to untangle her problems she escapes from her seven boisterous siblings and the confusing attentions of Jake Boone to clear an old trail across a remote part of the hill country in which she lives. This physical task is metaphorical, too: Zinny finds a route through her concerns and uncovers her aunt and uncle's secrets along the way, finally answering questions and expunging childhood guilt. The real achievements of this book are Creech's ability to capture the shifting sands of a child's thoughts and reasoning mechanisms and her ability to paint a stark, unsentimental picture of intense grief.