bookshelf

RUBY REINVENTED

Name: RUBY REINVENTED
Author: Ronni Arno
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3757-8

by Ronni Arno ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 3, 2015

A superficial story that's mildly amusing but neither especially plausible nor deeply engaging.

bookshelf

Ruby, 12-year-old daughter of a major league pitcher and a popular model-turned–television star who are plagued by paparazzi, discovers her California “friends” want only to gain access to her famous parents.

She decides on a major life change and enrolls in a Maine boarding school, where she immediately, unthinkingly lies upon arrival, claiming to be an orphan. That makes her seem like a soul mate to Connor (who is an orphan), to whom she's attracted—as is vindictive classmate Cassandra. A highly talented designer and seamstress, Ruby wins a campus contest and is chosen to present a fashion show of her work during parents' weekend. Much rings improbable, at best, in this frothy tale, including Ruby's ability to quickly turn out an array of fashion-forward clothing that exactly fits her friends and her loving parents' complete ignorance of her skill. When Ruby pulls out her credit card and charges $300 of magazines at a local newsstand so classmates won't see her photo in them, she risks losing readers’ sympathy. While Ruby's young teen voice rings true, neither the Maine setting nor the other saccharine-sweet characters are infused with much life. Only stock-character Cassandra distinguishes herself, albeit negatively. Awaiting the predictable reveal of Ruby's secret is more irritating then suspenseful.

A superficial story that's mildly amusing but neither especially plausible nor deeply engaging. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4814-3757-8

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

bookshelf

CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

bookshelf

An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

bookshelf

NUMBER THE STARS

by Lois Lowry ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...

bookshelf

The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.

Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)