Flying Through Music

Flying Through Music follows time traveler Zoey Browne as she solves the sinister plot behind her friend Nathan’s astonishing mid-flight disappearance at an air show. Zoey is a musiator – a special combination of musician and aviator – who travels through time by playing piano. She “musi-morphs” to various locations from a modern-day rock concert to 1940s Nazi Germany and Buddy Holly’s last show as she unravels the shocking musical secret behind Nathan’s vanishing. When her friend Nathan disappears in a puff of purple smoke during a flight demonstration, Zoey must use her power to rescue him. She quickly realizes a a strong connection between music and aviation, including a morbid one when she’s transported back to “The Day The Music Died.” Legends Buddy Holly, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Glenn Miller all died while flying, and now a nasty villain is trying to send Nathan to the same fate.Throughout her journey, Zoey faces grave danger as she also copes with such issues as expanding her musical abilities, being the daughter of a rock star and falling in love.

A girl morphs to an alternate musical universe to save her friend in Zeidler’s Flying Through Music. Three years earlier, Zoey Browne’s world changed for the better when she discovered she could transport to a magical world called Musicland. There, she cultivated a talent for keyboard playing and reunited with her amnesiac, rock star father. Now 15 years old, Zoey is spending her summer on tour with her famous dad. Tired of the road, she meets her best friend in Oshkosh, Wis., for an annual air show. When her friend Nathan disappears in a puff of purple smoke during a flight demonstration, Zoey must use her power to rescue him. She quickly realizes a a strong connection between music and aviation, including a morbid one when she’s transported back to “The Day The Music Died.” Legends Buddy Holly, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Glenn Miller all died while flying, and now a nasty villain is trying to send Nathan to the same fate. Readers with an interest in music will relish the trivia and lessons embedded in this story. Zoey develops as a musician while grappling with other issues such as her relationship with her famous father, a new love in her life, self-awareness as she confronts grave dangers along the way. At one point, Zoey, Nathan and other time traveling characters land in a Nazi concentration camp with a group of jazz-loving German youths. There they witness and endure great horrors. Through it all, Zeidler portrays music as an idealistic beacon of hope, the solution to all of life’s mysteries. A fast-paced, imaginative story.

Susan Zeidler is an award-winning staff journalist for Reuters News. She lives in Southern California with her family and loves reading, running and rock 'n roll. Throughout her career, as she's covered many “real world” events from major court cases to oil spills, mega-mergers, movie premieres and the Academy Awards, she's always kept one foot in the creative world, honing her craft as a musician and writer of fiction. Flying through Music is her second novel. She published her first novel, The Practice Room, in 2009.