Zia (1976)

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Zia - The second book in the Island of the Blue Dolphins series Karana's niece Zia takes center stage. Throughout her childhood Zia had heard the stories about her aunt and is determined to be the one to "rescue" her aunt from the island. Independent, strong-willed, and determined, Zia sets about making plans to row to the island, persuading her younger brother to help her in her quest. Twice they fail, the second time because they are kidnapped by Yankee whalers and put to work aboard a ship. Eventually they escape and return to the mainland. Woven into the plot is the struggle of the native people who are taken into forced labor and exploited by the local missions. When the laborers escape in the middle of the night, Zia is imprisoned for her role in their exodus. From her prison cell she is able to witness her aunt's arrival and the two finally meet with outstretched hands through the cell's barred window.