The Legend of Zoey [Library Binding]

Candie Moonshower (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Zoey's family has a strange feeling about the two-tailed comet in the sky. But that doesn’t mean Zoey will let them chaperone her class field trip to Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee—especially since Grandma Cope grew up near there. What if Grandma tells everyone about being a Native American? Zoey has no interest in her family’s past. All she wants is for her parents to get back together, and for herself to fit in at school. She doesn’t know what’s hit her when, during the bus ride to Reelfoot, she’s propelled back in time to 1811, when the lake was formed!

Now Zoey’s cell phone doesn’t work, there’s no fast food in sight, and massive earthquakes keep rattling the land. Prim, proper Prudence Charity and her way-too-pregnant mother are the first people Zoey sees, but they don’t believe her story—until they meet up with Chickasaw Chief Kalopin and his beautiful Choctaw bride. Kalopin is convinced that the Great Spirit has cursed him for stealing Laughing Eyes from Chief Copiah, and that soon, the river will swallow up his village and everyone in it. Zoey knows they’re headed for disaster, but can she find the courage to save them?


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Set in two time periods, Moonshower's novel is a riveting look at actual earthquakes in New Madrid, MO, in 1811-12 and a compelling drama. Zoey, a modern 13-year-old, is embarrassed by her Native American heritage and her midwife mother. While on a school field trip, a storm hits and she is whipped back into the past. She meets Prudence, whose mother is struggling with a pregnancy and whose minister father is away converting Indians. Prudence is enamored with Chief Kalopin, a legendary Chickasaw chief who fell in love with a Choctaw maiden. Their marriage is said to have caused the curse that changed the course of the Mississippi River and created Lake Reelfoot. The lives of these characters, some fictional and some real, intertwine amid the famous earthquakes. The narrative alternates between Prudence and Zoey, using a journal/diary format to relate the story. Zoey helps Prudence's mother with the birthing process and gains a new respect for her mother's work. The experience makes her appreciate her background and gain a knowledge of history and her ancestors. Some clever details are mixed in with the conclusion to give readers a feeling that the whole time-travel incident really happened. Moonshower captures the perfect blend of fact and fantasy, past and present, adventure and characterization to make this a compelling first novel. It's is a must-purchase for libraries in the Tennessee and Missouri regions. Other libraries should also consider it worthwhile.–Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. When a freak storm forces children on a field trip off the school bus, contemporary middle-schooler Zoey Smith-Jones is plunged back in time to 1811 and the beginning of a geophysical assault known as the New Madrid earthquakes. Zoey's experiences, told in entries in her diary, which she carries throughout her time-travel adventures, are interspersed among those of her nineteenth-century counterpart, Prudence, the daughter of white settlers. The plot weaves together two urgent experiences: the earthquakes, described with much attention to sensory detail, and Zoey's struggle to come to terms with her Native American ancestry. Both girls are brave, resourceful, and credible products of their times, and their contact with one another opens their awareness to mysteries that neither science nor religion can explain. Zoey's feelings about her relationship to the local native peoples seem contrived, but children are likely to focus mostly on her bravery when faced with the discomforts of the past and on the oddities that accompany her return to her own times. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding: 224 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385902980
• ISBN-13: 978-0385902984
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,229,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an Army brat who taught myself to type the summer I turned eight, knowing even then that I would write. Now a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, I teach Composition and English Literature and write both fiction and nonfiction.

In April 2004, I signed a contract with Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House, for my middle-grade novel, THE LEGEND OF ZOEY. It debuted July 11, 2006--a dream come true!

My biography of Vivian Vande Velde debuted in 2009.

I write regularly for regional and national publications as well.

My personal and ongoing work involves researching and writing about the cultural aftermath of the Vietnam War, especially with regard to the men and women that served and the families they left behind, in the hopes of promoting an understanding of our national consciousness before, during and since our involvement there.

I have finished two middle-grade novels, and two young adult novels, that I am marketing now, and I've written a number of books in the adult romance genre. I am set to begin resubmitting soon after a three-year hiatus from sending my work out to make the editorial rounds.

I am married to a saint, and have three children, 27, 15 and 12 years of age, a lovely daughter-in-law and two grandsons.

My family and friends--and writing, reading and teaching--are my work, and my work is my pleasure. I feel fortunate to do what I love and love what I do.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Past + Present = Adventure!, July 17, 2006

By 

Lea Wait (Maine USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Legend of Zoey (Hardcover)

Alternating stories of Zoey, a contemporary girl who is transported back to the world of 1811, where she must save Prudence and Prudence's mother before a major eathquake destroys the area they live in, and Prudence, who is confused by this girl who appears out of nowhere, wears pants, and can't chop wood. Both girls are brought to life by Ms. Moonshower, and both of their worlds shine clearly and accurately. Zoey and Prudence share the need for their families to be closer together, and the resolution of their stories is positive, and may encourage students to ask about their own family history. A wonderful first novel!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock on, Zoey!, September 13, 2006

By 

Roxyanne Young (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Legend of Zoey (Hardcover)

Based in Tennessee history with a healthy dose of Native American legend, The Legend of Zoey is told with a light and humorous voice in the main character that modern readers will easily relate to. 14-year-old Zoey Lennon Saffron Smith-Jones is the tech-junkie daughter of divorced flower children who gets zapped - literally - back in time to the early 1800s while on a school field trip. She was headed to Reelfoot Lake with her class to study the lake that was formed after a series of massive earthquakes forced the Mississippi to run backwards and devestated the region. And yeah, you guessed it, she lands in the region shortly before the catastrophic events take place. The family who finds her (a girl named Prudence and her mother, Grace) take her in, thinking she's an escaped white captive of one of the local tribes. She's got to figure out how to get them out of the area, warn the local tribal chief for whom Reelfoot Lake was named, and get herself home, but when the earthquakes start, she's more concerned about survival than getting home. She finds herself caught up in the birth of a legend, but will she live to tell the tale? Read on! A great adventure for girls and boys alike, ages 10+. This would be a GREAT addition to every middle school classroom library in Tennessee.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ZOEY IS LEGENDARY!!!, August 23, 2006

By 

Linda Joy Singleton "Linda Joy Singleton" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Legend of Zoey (Hardcover)

Fun book with lots of surprises!

Zoey's school field trip turns into a thrilling adventure back in time where she helps her own ancestors and struggles to survive in a terrifying earthquake (based on a real earthquake).

THE LEGEND OF ZOEY is a wonderful blend of historial Native American lore, time travel, interesting facts about a little known earthquake and lots of adventure. Teachers and librarians will find this book a great choice for read alouds; educational plus exciting with a powerful ending.

Don't miss this terrific book!