Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything - Hardcover

Look, Lenore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689864604 ISBN 13: 9780689864605

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

When Ruby's cousin Flying Duck emigrates from China to live with her, Ruby decides the best thing about Flying Duck is that she is a great new friend. BUT the worst thing about Flying Duck is that now, no one speaks English at home. Plus, there's strange food on the table every night and only chopsticks to eat it with. And Flying Duck is deaf, and Ruby doesn't know any Chinese Sign Language.

As if that weren't enough, this summer proves to be even more perilous as Ruby faces the dangers of swimming lessons, the joys of summer school, the difficulty of staying with a twelve-step program, the miracle needed to keep a beautiful stray dog that wanders into her life, and much more. Is it all too much for anyone -- even the Empress of Everything -- to handle?

About this title

About the Author

Lenore Look is the author of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, an ALA Notable Book; Love As Strong As Ginger, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Stephen T. Johnson; and Henry's First-Moon Birthday, illustrated by Yumi Heo. She lives in Randolph, New Jersey.

Anne Wilsdorf is the illustrator of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, as well as Alligator Sue by Sharon Arms Doucet. She lives in Lausanne, Switzerland.

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 1-3–Ruby Lu takes her role as Smile Buddy to her deaf cousin, Flying Duck, so seriously that her work suffers, dooming the second grader to a vacation marred by summer school and a repeat of last year's swimming lessons. She is also dealing with the ups and downs of her relationship with her sometimes-best-friend, Emma. In the first two chapters, Ruby Lu's feelings about her cousin's arrival from China fluctuate from loving to disliking to accepting. Simple sentence structure, clear but varied word choice, and attention-grabbing transitions create a smooth chapter book that is suitable for early and reluctant readers. Black-and-white cartoon drawings add emotion, characterization, and humor, showing, for example, the exaggerated water-safety gear that the feuding Ruby Lu and Emma wear in the waist-deep pool before learning to swim. Pleased with accomplishing all 7 goals on her 12-step summer plan, Ruby Lu realizes too late that she has forgotten her summer reading, leaving readers anticipating another book fresh with third-grade misadventures. With exuberant impulsivity yet earnest introspection, Ruby Lu invites readers into a contemporary world that honors differences while ultimately celebrating universal moments of childhood–friendship, school, and self-realization.–Julie R. Ranelli, Kent Island Branch Library, Stevensville, MD
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About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0689864604
• ISBN 13: 9780689864605
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: Wilsdorf Anne