The Midnight Diary of Zoya Blume [Hardcover]

Laura Shaine Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

"Your first memory is your point of view," says Zoya's mother. But what is Zoya's first memory? When her mother must leave home, promising to return in seven days, Zoya Blume begins a midnight diary to keep the dark forces at bay. She writes of secrets and of nightmares -- most frightening of all the Buka, a monstrous witch, composed of shadows, who seized her once long ago and now, in her mother's absence, threatens to reclaim her forever.

Can Zoya conquer her fear by facing her past? Memories come like a chill blast from the country of her birth. Yet Zoya finds a guardian in Leon, her mother's magician friend, an ally in her Gypsy neighbor Flynn, and a beacon of hope in the Stone Girl -- a hauntingly beautiful statue in the courtyard.

Only love and truth can save Zoya Blume. On the chance she will lose everything and everyone she loves, Zoya takes the ultimate journey alone one midnight and crosses the border out of childhood and into the adult world, in which joy must coexist with the knowledge that those you love are not immortal. A heartfelt mystery tour that sheds light on every young girl's deepest feelings.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–At age 4, Zoya Blume was adopted from a Russian orphanage by her quirky single mother, Mimi. Now 12, she has suppressed memories that haunt her in the form of the Buka, a menacing figure who lurks in dark corners waiting for its chance to capture her. Mimi is the only person who can thwart the creature and dispel the darkness, so, when she is hospitalized, Zoya's world is turned upside down. She begins a journey of self-discovery aided by Leon, a magician friend of Mimi's who has come to look after her, and the contents of the plaid suitcase that she brought with her from Russia. This is a quiet coming-of-age novel about a girl facing her fears about death and the possibility of losing the most important person in her life. The characters are unique and strongly developed, and Zoya's first-person narrative, written as a diary, is honest and sometimes lyrical. Give this book to readers who enjoyed Kevin Henkes's Olive's Ocean (Greenwillow, 2003).–Michele Capozzella, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
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Review

"Evocative, lyrical." -- Publishers Weekly

"Wrenching and otherworldly. Tenderly hopeful." -- Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Laura Geringer (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060722592
• ISBN-13: 978-0060722593
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,264,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Shaine Cunningham is the author of eight books, including the acclaimed memoirs, Sleeping Arrangements and A Place in the Country which were first excerpted in The New Yorker magazine. She has also published the novels Sweet Nothings, Third Parties,Tamara (as L.C.Shaine), Beautiful Bodies, Dreams of Rescue and the YA novel The Midnight Diary of Zoya Blume. Her books have been published in ten foreign countries. Her fiction has been published in the New Yorker and the Atlantic Monthly and many literary quarterlies. She is also a playwright and her plays have been produced on the main stage at Steppenwolf Theater, on Theater Row in New York,also staged in Manhattan at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theater Club and Ensemble Studio Theatre and are extremely popular in Europe- she has many current international theater productions, in Russia, Bulgaria, Argentina, London, Estonia, Finland. Her plays are often anthologized and appear in many Best Plays of...including Best Plays of 2009-2010,Best Plays of 2007-8, and most preceding years' collections. In addition, her plays have been published in many Vintage collections, including Plays for Women, Leading Ladies, Take Ten, Take Ten II, Laugh Lines, Shorter, Faster, Funnier...and several of her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing- Beautiful Bodies, Bang, and Cruising Close to Crazy.
In addition, she is a journalist and has written many columns for The New York Times, The New York Observer, the London Times and magazine articles for Esquire, the Ladies Home Journal, Organic Living and other periodicals.She is also Artistic Director of the Memoir Institute ([e-mail], and lectures often on memoir and theater at universities and at literary festivals. She has won many awards for her writing, including two NEA Fellowships, in literature and theatre, and two NYFA awards in creative writing and play-writing. She is a member of HB Playwrights Foundation, and The Actors Studio Playwright Unit; she is also an alumna of New Dramatists. and Actors and Writers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sensitive, emotional, and unforgettable tale, June 24, 2005

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Midnight Diary of Zoya Blume (Hardcover)

Zoya's mom is going away, but she leaves with the soul-felt promise to return in seven days time. Yet 12-year-old Zoya feels terribly uneasy that she will never see her mom again. Her fears stem from being abandoned at the age of four in a Russian orphanage. But ever since Zoya's adoption, her new mom has filled Zoya's life with an unconditional love and a colorful laughter that have far overshadowed the nightmares from her sad beginnings. Until now.

Zoya's mom asks an old friend by the name of Leon to stay with Zoya while she's away. This doesn't help Zoya's uneasiness any. She doesn't know him, and she doesn't want him trying to take her mother's place. But he moves right in, sleeping in her mother's bed, attempting to make breakfast and walking her to school whether Zoya likes it or not. Zoya just wants her mom back.

Before she leaves, Zoya's mom gives her a diary to help ease their time apart. The diary also may help Zoya recall her past in order to start healing from her fears of abandonment. She doesn't remember a lot from before the adoption, just flashes mostly. And she recalls a plaid suitcase, the same plaid suitcase that is stored on the top shelf of the closet, and could possibly contain information about her past. But is Zoya ready to remember?

The seven days until the promised return pass painfully slowly, and Zoya fills the darkest, loneliest hours of the night by filling the pages of her diary with her darkest, loneliest fears. Zoya plows through the rest of the time by stumbling upon little adventures, like discovering who's been crying down in the apartment building's basement, and learning to assist the not-so-terrible-after-all Leon with his magic act.

This sensitive tale gently pulls the reader through its pages, tugging on every emotion the entire way. Laura Shaine Cunningham does a superb job conveying Zoya's pains and fears to where readers will feel each crack in Zoya's heart and every tear slip down her cheek. This excellent book will be enjoyed by people of all ages!

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author