Skip to main content

Review: Ruby Lost and Found

By
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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Run

By
Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...
1 comment
Read more

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

By
Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

By
We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...
Post a Comment
Read more