Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

This book had me from the opening words. It is lyric and downright charming – a splendid addition to a body of work from the “next generation” of really good young adult authors. Sharon Creech won the Newbery with “Walk Two Moons” and that quiet and gentle novel was hugely popular, something that doesn’t typically happen with character driven stories and teens. But Ms. Creech is good…really good. Her descriptive passages are lush and often downright funny. In “Ruby Holler” her style was so engaging that I began to use passages of the book as examples with my creative writing students. The story is that of Dallas and Florida, a brother and sister who have moved from foster home to foster home, encountering rotten guardians along the way. When they finally land with a sweet elderly couple things look like they are going to work out, but I guarantee the action is real and touching, not sappy and overly sweet. Like “The Great Gilly Hopkins” for older students, and more upbeat than the Baudelaire struggles, this tale hits the perfect middle note in plethora of abandoned children sagas. Ms. Creech continues to pump them out, and I haven’t heard a negative review yet. I look forward to her ongoing efforts.