The Adventures of Joey Zee

 The basic theme of this fictional two part tale (for ages 6-12) deals with conflict/resolution and reconciliation. The story evolves around the main character, whose name is Joey Zee. Joey comes from a single parent, urban middle class, biracial family which includes his Mother Samaria, Grandmother Esther and her forever singing, red feathered parakeet named 'Blue'. He is a typically adventurous (and somewhat stubborn) young boy who is very much looking forward to his first day of school at Newell Elementary. New school! New friends! New adventures! Wow! He could hardly wait to start! However, Joey soon becomes frustrated about the alphabetical system his teacher, Ms. Noble uses in the classroom. This, because of his last name starting with the letter ‘Z’, makes him last for all the class’s activities! Becoming more flustered about his situation, Joey decides to quit going to school altogether and starts to hang out at the local park. Things are suddenly great for the youngster. That is, until Ms. Noble makes a call to his Mom as to his whereabouts! After being confronted by his Mother, Joey breaks down and tells her and his Grandma just why he decided to quit school. "...And it's all because of a stupid last name!" He cried. Well, with the understanding that he must always face the consequences for his decisions in life, Joey is grounded. Meanwhile, both his Mother and Grandma started making a few phone calls of their own! The next week Ms. Noble takes the class on a field trip to see 'The Great Circus'. And to Joey's surprise, his Mother and Nana shows up! Later, he gets an even greater surprise when he is introduced to the star performer of ‘The Great Circus', who turns out to be none other than his own Father, Joseph Tylee Zamvinico Senior!! And as Joey accepts his Father's outstretched hand to shake, he remembers something his Grandma had said not too long before: “A name never made a person, but it is the person who makes the name."