Ruby the Foster Dog

Be a star that shines for others.

Abandoned in an animal shelter, Ruby, an adorable mixed breed puppy with an underbite, wonders if a family will ever adopt her. When a goofy looking, scruffy-faced man stops by the shelter, he adopts Ruby. Mr. James is not the family she was expecting—but could he still be the answer to her prayers?

Mr. James (known as Jimmy Wayne to his country music fans) is walking halfway across America to raise awareness for the thousands of foster children who desperately need our help. Ruby realizes that she’s not so very different from these kids: she’s scared and alone. If she doesn’t have help, she can’t have hope either. But Mr. James wants to change all that, for her and for every foster kid in the United States.

On their adventure together, Mr. James teaches her about integrity, honesty, loyalty, faith, forgiveness, and trust, but mostly how love can rescue someone and forever change lives. As they walk along historic routes and locations throughout the Southeastern United States, Ruby quietly helps Mr. James overcome the issues he’s been struggling with too. By the time they get to Phoenix, both of their lives are changed for the better. But just when Ruby accepts Mr. James as her new family, an unexpected phone call challenges her to redefine family—and love—all over again.

Ruby the Foster Dog will leave readers with a full heart, a desire to help foster dogs (and foster kids) find homes and forever families, and motivation to be a star that shines for others. Ruby’s story parallels the plight of the more than 400,000 children in foster care, the 30,000 who age-out annually at 18-years-young, and the 100,000+ children waiting to be adopted. To find out more, please visit Project Meet Me Halfway at ProjectMMH.org. 

Jimmy Wayne is a former foster kid turned award-winning country music artist whose songs and story highlight his mission to raise awareness for children in foster care. Jimmy’s hits include “Stay Gone,” “Paper Angels,” “I Love You This Much,” and “Do You Believe Me Now,” which earned BMI’s prestigious Million-Air Award for receiving one million radio spins in America. In 2009 Jimmy toured with Brad Paisley and recorded “Sara Smile” with rock ’n roll Hall of Fame duo Daryl Hall and John Oates.

In 2010, Jimmy walked halfway across America (from Nashville to Phoenix) to raise awareness for kids aging out of the foster-care system. In 2012, Jimmy helped get legislative bills passed extending the age of foster care to twenty-one in California, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Ohio. In 2014, he released Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found The Way, a three-time New York Times bestselling memoir, which recently crossed the 100,000 print sales milestone. In 2016, he received the prestigious Points of Light award from President George W. Bush (41), and in 2017, he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from William Woods University.

Jimmy has performed on the Grand Ole Opry more than two hundred times. He lives in Nashville and continues to work tirelessly on behalf of at-risk foster youth by performing, writing books, and keynote speaking. Jimmy's ultimate goal is to build transitional homes for youth who age out of foster care without a place to go.

To find out more about Jimmy and his awareness campaign, Project Meet Me Halfway, please visit:

JimmyWayne.com

Facebook.com/JimmyWayneOfficial

Twitter.com/JimmyWayne

Instagram/JimmyWayneOfficial

ProjectMMH.org