Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that teen characters in the book deal with physical and mental abuse by their parents, but it's not sensationalized and the focus is on the psychological after-effects. Teens' coping strategies include drug and alcohol use and running away. The importance of family and friends is strongly emphasized.
Families can talk about the theme of family as presented in this book, including an assignment where Ruby has to interview people about what the word "family" means to them. What definitions in the book do you agree with, or do you have a better definition? They can also discuss how friends can respond when a peer seems to need help but won't accept it.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Stephanie Dunnewind
Teens will respond to Ruby's first-person voice as she struggles with all the changes in her life, even positive ones. Handed $200 and sent to the mall, Ruby is just anxious with what would seem to be teen heaven. Extensive dialog exchanges give a sense of immediacy and connection with the characters. The child abuse isn't sensationalized; she focuses on the psychological damage, not the physical violence.
Some of the author's imagery (especially the key metaphor) lacks subtlety; secondary characters seem created to make a point, rather than as real people (Ruby's brother-in-law, while endearing, is simply too perfect); and several plot developments feel contrived. Still, the writing is higher quality than you'll find in many popular young-adult books, with lovely phrases and surprising bits of humor.
Plot Summary:
When Ruby's single mom takes off a few months before Ruby's 18th birthday, she lives alone in a roach-infested house without running water, hoping to stay under the radar until she's a legal adult. Instead, a social worker sticks her with Cora, the older sister she hasn't seen for 10 years, now a lawyer married to a rich Internet entrepreneur. Despite her new posh surroundings, Ruby always wears the key to her old house on a chain around her neck as a reminder of her difficult yet more familiar old life. She slowly starts to lower her emotional defenses, reconnecting with her sister, making friends with another girl who doesn't fit in at school, and crushing on Nate, the cute, popular boy next door who seems to have a perfect life. It's only when she gets to know Nate that she realizes he might have secrets of his own to unlock.
Related Books:
Also by Sarah Dessen:
Just Listen
Someone Like You
That Summer
Keeping the Moon
The Truth About Forever
Dreamland
This Lullaby
Also about Dysfunctional Families:
Lush by Natasha Friend
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Sexual ContentRuby has sex with her casual boyfriend; it is not explicit but they are not in a committed relationship. She catches her friend having sex with the same guy. |
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ViolenceMentions of children/teens slapped, hit, and shoved by their parents; the psychological after-effects are described in detail. |
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Language"S--t," "pissed," "bitch," "skank." |
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Social BehaviorTeens cope with abusive parents; Ruby's mother deserts her. Ruby cuts school to get drunk (but feels badly afterward for disappointing her guardians). She tries to run away from her sister's house. Ruby's sister works through high school to pay for college and becomes a successful lawyer. Ruby applies herself in school, hires a calculus tutor, and gets accepted to college. |
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CommercialismA character is CEO of a fictional MySpace-like social-networking company called UMe.com; a few product references (Diet Coke, BMW, Visine). |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoRuby buys and smokes pot and drinks alcohol; she drinks excessively (to the point of passing out) to escape from her problems, but is punished for it. Ruby's mom is a smoker and alcoholic who lands in rehab after she is found unconscious in a hotel room. |
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