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Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Juvenile Intermediate Book Hardback | 120791002165202 | J I LOO | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Ruby is starting third grade, and she can't wait! In third grade you get to join clubs, like for knitting and ballroom dancing and yoga. In third grade you get to sign up for a musical instrument (Ruby is convinced that she is destined to play the harp) and play in the orchestra. In third grade you also get to learn cursive...and that's only the beginning! But for Ruby Lu, third grade also means an especially big change: her father loses his job. When her mother goes to work to support the family, Ruby and Oscar have to adjust to her father's bizarre caretaking, which is definitely not all fun and games. And then there's the fact that money is tighter than ever. Ruby is determined to change things, though. Surely there's a way for her to make a million dollars!
As Ruby is about to discover, making money isn't easy...but having a loving family is the most valuable thing of all. This is another funny, charming, heartfelt gem from Lenore Look.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-In her latest appearance, Ruby is ready to take on third grade. That's when classrooms are in the big kids' hall, students get to join clubs, and everything is written in cursive. Ruby isn't quite comfortable with all of the changes; show-and-tell has disappeared, and she finds herself worried about her dog at home without her. These adjustments prove small once she learns that her dad has lost his job. Her already frugal family needs to make more cost-saving calibrations, and the child finds herself not knowing how to deal with an increasingly depressed, stay-at-home dad and a working mom. Her grades slip and she worries about her parents arguing at night. While experiencing the ups and downs that go along with unemployment, Ruby knows she can count on her friends and family. Choi joins the series, peppering the pages with illustrations of Ruby and her friends to make this a fun easy chapter book despite the heavier issues.-Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
In Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything (rev. 5/06), Ruby found a dog and named him Elvis. Now Ruby is eager to take Elvis to obedience school; he can do amazing things, like ride a bike and balance plates on his head, but Ruby just wants him to learn some normal tricks. Unfortunately, when her dad loses his job, dog school is out of the question. Soon Ruby has a bigger concern: with all the food Elvis eats, can they even afford to keep him? Leavening the seriousness of her family's money worries is Ruby's Ramona-like talent for getting into trouble. (Young readers will think of Lilly and her purple plastic purse when Ruby's beloved third-grade teacher Mr. Yu sends home a letter about her bad grades -- Ruby draws a picture of him being struck by lightning, then features him in a less-than-flattering haiku.) Fans of the first two Ruby Lu books may have trouble adjusting to the change in illustrator; Choi's art is more cartoony and feels younger than Anne Wilsdorf's art, which was quirkier and more detailed. (Also, where are Ruby's glasses? And sometimes-best-friend Emma, whose ethnicity is never mentioned in the text, is no longer depicted as African American.) Still, Ruby and her family, along with cousin Flying Duck and the rest of the 20th Avenue Plum Club, are as comfortably familiar -- and entertaining -- as ever. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
When her father loses his job, Ruby Lu's family must cut back on a number of fronts. Worse, her stay-at-home mother lands a minimum-wage job at the mall, and her father grows grumpy as he fails to find work. Frustrated by the family's tough times, Ruby finds solace in their dog Elvis, until Elvis' original owner comes to claim him. The cartoon-style sketches add humor to the story's more difficult aspects. With very few Chinese terms and cultural references, this lacks the Asian flavor of the earlier two books, but Ruby is as effervescent and charming as ever.--Perkins, Linda Copyright 2010 Booklist