Gurl, like all the orphans in Hope House for the Homeless and Hopeless, doesn’t remember her given name, if she ever had one, so she has to content herself with the one headmistress Terwiliger has handed her that’s a borderline insult. Gurl is a flightless “leadfoot” in a world where some can fly and most can float. She’s happy to remain unnoticed as often as possible until she literally blends in with the woodwork. Gurl is the born-once-a-century Wall, and every sneak thief wants control of her. She and friend Bug, who hopes to be a swift-flying Wing, evade capture for a time, but Sweetcheeks Grabowski, notorious gangster, finally nabs them. With the aid of a secret-storing monkey, a riddle-bearing cat and an ancient professor with grass for hair, Gurl and Bug discover their pasts and connect with a hopeful future. The last chapters of Ruby’s sophomore effort are excellent, but few will make it through this sluggish, overlong fantasy adventure. Less than the sum of its imaginative parts, this misses the high mark set by her Lily’s Ghosts (2003). (Fantasy. 10-14)
