Ruby Flips for Attention

Ruby Flips For Attention Derrick Barnes

Ruby's cousin Kee-Kee is the captain of the Wallace Park Spirit drill team. When Ruby see's the drill team before, she can't wait to start her own drill team, so everyone starts chanting her name! (Plus, the sparkly costumes!)

Surely, learning to dance and flip won't be a problem, but when Ruby breaks her wrist trying to flip, she learns that there's a lot more to the Wallace Park Spirit than the performances.

This one actually has a bit of a lesson (helping out the community) but doesn't whack you over the head with it. I liked how Ruby got all caught up in the sparkles of the costume and attention people lavished on the squad and immediately started her own drill team and thought it would all just come together immediately.

But honestly? The best part was the lesson, because it wasn't what I was expecting it to be. While there was a little "you need to work really hard to get good as something" that wasn't the moral of the tale. The moral was that if you want your neighborhood to go gaga for you, if you want to represent where you're from, then you have to do something to make you worthy of the attention and the name of the neighborhood. It was not the direction I was expecting the book to take and I appreciated the surprise as well as the lesson, which is not one I come across a lot. (I mean, community service is one we often see, but one linked to -- if you want to represent the neighborhood, then you have to make yourselves worthy is a new take on that.

I hope we get more Ruby. The series keeps getting stronger with every title and I'd love to see where it goes.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Slumber Party Payback

Slumber Party Payback Derrick Barnes

Ruby's brother Ro is known as a joker, and his pranks ruined Ruby's last slumber party. He ruined it so totally that no one will come to her party this time except for Ruby's very best friends. When Ro continues to pull his stunts, Ruby and her friends decide that it's time her brother got a taste of his own medicine.

So, we've seen some of Ro's pranks in previous books and they're fairly destructive (like vandalizing all the school posters or breaking Ty's computer so he couldn't use it study animal trivia). The pranks he pulls on Ruby's friends though... it's just mean and I'm wondering how his parents let him get away with it. Soaking all of your little sister's stuffed animals in vinegar isn't funny, it's just mean.

I was also surprised because while Ro likes to make trouble, in the previous books, he was a pretty good big brother and didn't seem like the kind of guy who would think it was hilarious that none of Ruby's friends will come to her parties anymore because of him.

That said, this was my favorite of the series so far. It's pretty hilarious. It's a wonderful version of the typical sleep-over pranks and the revenge of younger sisters.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Trivia Queen, Third Grade Supreme

Trivia Queen, 3rd Grade Supreme Derrick Barnes

Besides singing, Ruby's main talent is trivia. "When it comes to little facts, strange facts, and funny facts about any- and everything, there's a good chance I know it." So, she's very excited when she hears the school is having an animal trivia contest, with the winner winning zoo passes for his or her entire grade. And it will be televised! The only problem is that it's only for the 4th-8th graders! Ruby has no way worming her into the contest, but things get bad when she finds out that two of her brothers are also representing their grades in the contest. She knows she could beat every kid in the school, except for maybe the Booker Boys.

It also has a great section of animal trivia questions (and answers) in the back.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Brand-new School, Brave New Ruby

Brand New School, Brave New Ruby Derrick Barnes

Ruby's starting 3rd grade at a brand-new school. She's got enough personality and a brand-new book bag that looks like a guitar, so this normally wouldn't be a problem but...

Ruby has three older brothers, and they rule that school. How will she live up to the expectations they've set and how will she break out their shadow. She's up to the challenge, but every time she goes to make a name for herself, one of her brothers (unintentionally) shows her up.

Ruby's a precocious girl in a field of precocious girls written for the same reading level. I'll be honest, she's no Clementine or Keena Ford. But, she is someone that the kids really, really like and she's someone I would have loved when I was in 3rd grade. I would have wanted Ruby for a friend, and wanted to keep reading about her. So this is one of those books where I'm not saying "Read it now!" but I am saying "Shove this in the hands of an 8 year old now!"

Also, the series gets better as it goes on.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Sunday Salon-- Ruby Booker

Around the blogosphere lately, I've seen several posts about Ruby and the Booker Boys, how it wasn't selling well enough, and urging people to spread the word and spend some $$$ to keep the series going. I liked the sentiment well enough, but I hadn't ever read the series, so I was staying quiet until I could change that little fact.

Which was harder to do than I originally suspected. I pulled them off the library shelf, and had them sitting next to me on the reference desk, so I could check them out when I got off desk... but girls kept coming up and being all "Miss Jennie? Can I look at those?"

Which right away is one of the best endorsements I can give-- it took me a while to read these because the intended market kept taking them away from me so THEY could read them. I then looked up the circ stats and these books are WAY more popular than I thought. This is what I call a quiet hit. The books get checked out all the time, but the kids never ask me for them, which, let's be honest, is how I tend gauge popularity.

I finally was able to check out the first two books. Before I got a chance to read them, I found myself at a bookstore (I do try to avoid those on a regular basis, they're so bad for my budget!) So I wandered over to the children's section, where I was only able to find one copy of the third book, Slumber Party Payback.

Look for the reviews later, but after having read the first three, I ordered the fourth, Ruby Flips For Attention, and I am behind the campaign to get people to buy this series so it'll stay in print and more will come!

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.