For years, Zia has dreamt of going to the Island of the Blue Dolphins to find her aunt Karana, her dead mother's sister who was left alone on the island nearly twenty years earlier. It's the reason Zia came to the Santa Barbara Mission in the first place. The reason she braves the treacherous ocean waters again and again to rescue Karana. But every time she tries, she fails.

Finally, Zia's aunt is brought to her. Finally, her greatest dream has come true. But sometimes the reality is not nearly as sweet as the dream.

Zia tells those facts so far as they are known from the point of view of a girl who has her own story to tell.

Like Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell's Zia is a gripping tale of survival, strength, and courage.