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Review: Ruby Lost and Found

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By Christina Li
New York: Quill Tree Books, 2023. Fiction. 288 pgs.

Ruby's whole world is shifting around her: her sister will leave for college at the end of the summer, her friends have moved away or moved on to a different friend group, and she recently lost her beloved grandfather, Ye-Ye. Every summer Ruby and Ye-Ye used maps to complete a scavenger hunt across the city of San Francisco, but since his death Ruby has felt out of place. After she gets in trouble at school, her parents decide to ground her for the summer and send her to spend her weekdays with her grandmother. Ruby slowly warms up to spending time with her Nai-Nai, but when she discovers Ye-Ye's favorite local Chinatown bakery is on the verge closing, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

The loss of a beloved grandparent is one of the biggest themes of the book, and Ruby's guilt mixed with grief is artfully discussed throughout. Ruby and Nai-Nai talk together about their grieving processes over the loss of Ye-Ye and about how they each grieved differently. Nai-Nai's own declining health and the fear it can produce in younger loved ones is also touched upon, as Ruby learns how to balance her desire to protect her grandmother and confiding her worries to her parents. Throughout the book, Ruby learns to better understand the feelings of those around her, and also how to identify and ask for help with her own needs. A great choice for readers learning to handle big changes and for those struggling with loss.
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