Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062317660

National Book Award 2019 Finalist! From the author of Printz Medal winner Bone Gap comes the unforgettable story of two young women—one living, one dead—dealing with loss, desire, and the fragility of the American dream during WWII. When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary—just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans—two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive. And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into the fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, it will be up to Frankie to find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America—every minute of every day spent wondering if the life she's able to carve out will be enough. I will admit I do not know the answer. But I will be watching, waiting to find out. That’s what ghosts do.

Bone Gap

Bone Gap
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2015-03-03
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062317636

National Book Award Finalist * Printz Award Winner for Best Young Adult Book of the Year “Ruby’s novel deserves to be read and reread. It is powerful, beautiful, extraordinary.”—School Library Journal Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. But Finn knows what really happened to Roza. He knows she was kidnapped by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap, acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a tale of the ways in which the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

Ten Cents a Dance

Ten Cents a Dance
Author: Christine Fletcher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2008-04-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1599901641

In 1940s Chicago, fifteen-year-old Ruby hopes to escape poverty by becoming a taxi dancer in a nightclub, but the work has unforeseen dangers and hiding the truth from her family and friends becomes increasingly difficult.

Cold

Cold
Author: Mariko Tamaki
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2022-02-08
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1626722749

A boy, a murder, a girl, a secret. From award-winning author Mariko Tamaki comes Cold, a haunting YA novel about a shocking homicide in a quiet town and four students who knew too much and said too little. This is the story of a boy who died—and a girl who wants to know why. Todd Mayer is dead. Now he's some sort of ghost, hovering over his body, which has just been found in the town park, naked and frozen in the snow. As detectives investigate Todd's homicide, talking to the very people who are responsible for how he died, Todd replays the events that lead him to his end in the park. Georgia didn't know Todd. But she can’t stop thinking about him. Maybe it's because they’re both outcasts at their school, or because they’re both queer. It might also be because Georgia has a feeling she’s seen Todd somewhere before, somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. In the vein of The Lovely Bones, this dual narrative is told through the voices of Todd in his afterlife and Georgia as she uncovers the truth behind his death, resulting in an immersive, emotional, and provocative read.

Me and Ms. Too

Me and Ms. Too
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2022-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780062894335

Lift as You Climb

Lift as You Climb
Author: Patricia Hruby Powell
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2020-06-09
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1534406247

Learn about the civil rights activist Ella Baker in this inspiring picture book from Sibert Honor winner Patricia Hruby Powell and Caldecott Honor winner R. Gregory Christie. “What do you hope to accomplish?” asked Ella Baker’s granddaddy when she was still a child. Her mother provided the answer: “Lift as you climb.” Long before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, Ella Baker worked to lift others up by fighting racial injustice and empowering poor African Americans to stand up for their rights. Her dedication and grassroots work in many communities made her a valuable ally for leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and she has been ranked as one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement. In the 1960s she worked to register voters and organize sit-ins, and she became a teacher and mentor to many young activists. Caldecott Honor winner R. Gregory Christie’s powerful pictures pair with Patricia Hruby Powell’s poignant words to paint a vivid portrait of the fight for the freedom of the human spirit.

The Shadow Cipher

The Shadow Cipher
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Total Pages: 430
Release: 2017
Genre: Adventure stories
ISBN: 9781536438963

A debut entry in an alternate-history series depicts three kids who try to solve a modern-world puzzle and complete a treasure hunt laid into the streets and buildings of New York City.

I'm Not Julia Roberts

I'm Not Julia Roberts
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0759571449

Does every second wife look like Julia Roberts? Lu Klein certainly doesn't, and her life is anything but glamorous. When she married a man with children, Lu had no idea that she was also marrying his shrewish ex-wife, Beatrix. And Beatrix had no idea that making a new home with her second husband would mean welcoming her wicked teenage stepdaughter, Liv. And Liv's mother Roxie had no idea that so many new and exciting boyfriends could make her long for the stable life she and her ex had too eagerly left behind. In this tightly interconnected collection of ten short stories, author Laura Ruby chronicles the progress of Lu, Beatrix, Roxie and their various steps and exes as they take the perilous plunge into the maelstrom of the so-called "blended family." Both ruefully funny and wickedly insightful, I Am Not Julia Roberts offers finely-observed, honest and affecting takes on kids, step-kids, divorce, remarriage...and the movie Stepmom.

The White Tree

The White Tree
Author: Edward W. Robertson
Publisher: Edward W. Robertson
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2014-01-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Sixteen-year-old Dante is obsessed with learning to wield the nether, the powerful magic of the death god Arawn. But a century ago, Arawn's followers were scoured from the kingdom of Mallon. Their temples smashed. Their secrets lost. When Dante tracks down a copy of their holiest book, he throws himself into its study--and finds himself under siege in the city streets. Arawn's believers aren't dead. They're in hiding, and they want back their book. With the help of the nether and a loudmouthed bodyguard named Blays, Dante escapes into the wilds. But Arawn's army is ready to march from the shadows. As they move against Mallon, they hunt Dante relentlessly, in search of the book. And with his powers growing by the day, Dante finds himself used as a tool in the war against them. He and Blays are dispatched on a thousand-mile journey to assassinate the Arawnites' leader. If they fail, their homeland will fall. ~ The White Tree is the first book in the epic fantasy trilogy the Cycle of Arawn. Other books include The Great Rift and The Black Star. Keywords: free, freebie, epic fantasy, wizards, magic, sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy, coming of age fantasy, free epic fantasy