Ruby on the Outside - by Nora Raleigh Baskin (Paperback)

About the Book

Eleven-year-old Ruby Danes has a real best friend for the first time ever, but agonizes over whether or not to tell her a secret she has never shared with anyone--that her mother has been in prison since Ruby was five--and over whether to express her anger to her mother.

Book Synopsis

Ruby's mom is in prison, and to tell anyone the truth is to risk true friendship in this novel that accurately and sensitively addresses a subject too often overlooked--from the author of The Summer Before Boys.

Eleven-year-old Ruby Danes is about to start middle school, and only her aunt knows her deepest, darkest, secret: her mother is in prison.

Then Margalit Tipps moves into Ruby's condo complex, and the two immediately hit it off. Ruby thinks she's found her first true-blue friend--but can she tell Margalit the truth about her mom? Maybe not. Because it turns out that Margalit's family history seems closely connected to the very event that put her mother in prison, and if Ruby comes clean, she could lose everything she cares about most.

Review Quotes

"A deeply compassionate exploration of an experience underrepresented in children's literature."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Sensitively handled and emotionally impactful, this novel is especially a must-have for libraries that serve children of incarcerated parents."-- "School Library Journal"

About the Author

Nora Raleigh Baskin is the ALA Schneider Family Book Award-winning author of Anything But Typical. She was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for her novel What Every Girl (Except Me) Knows, and has since written a number of novels for middle graders and teens, including The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah, The Summer Before Boys, and Ruby on the Outside. Nora lives with her family in Connecticut. Visit her at NoraBaskin.com.

Matt Roeser has never been to outer space, but he has eaten astronaut ice cream. When not dreaming of exploring the cosmos and writing books, he's busy eating non-astronaut food and designing book covers. Even though his favorite planet is Saturn, he currently lives on Earth in a town called Boston, Massachusetts. Oh No, Astro! is his first book. Visit him at MattRoeser.com.