Ruby's Imagine
by Kim Antieau

    RUBY'S IMAGINE by Kim Antieau
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  9/8/08
    Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
    Reviewed by:  JodiG.
    Rating:  5 Stars


    There is a big storm coming.  A “Big Spin," as Ruby calls it.  Ruby knows the storm is coming because Ruby Butterfly
    told her, and the Big Oaks told Ruby Butterfly.  So it must be true.  But, should Ruby tell anyone else?  Her
    grandmother, Mammaloose, says that Ruby just makes things up.  Mammaloose probably wouldn’t believe her.  She
    would just say it's one more thing from Ruby’s imagine.  Kind of like Ruby’s memories of her sisters and living in the
    swamp.  Just Ruby’s imagine.  

    Not real at all.

    Ruby lives in Louisiana with Mammaloose and Uncle Gilbert.  Ruby has a special way of talking.  Her friend JayEl
    says it is like Ruby paints a picture with her words.  Its just one more thing that makes Ruby stand apart from other
    people.  

    Mammaloose isn’t particularly loving towards Ruby, but she has her good friends, human and otherwise. The flying
    people, the rooted people, Samuel Beckett Sparrow and Maya Angelou Hummingbird, Mr. Lagniappe and JayEl, all
    seem to understand Ruby better than her own grandmother.  And Ruby loves everyone.  And she warns them that the
    storm is coming.  The storm is real, and it is coming straight toward them.  Everything Ruby knows and imagines is
    about to change because the storm is bringing more destruction than anyone could have imagined and more truth as
    well.  

    As Ruby sees her neighborhood swallowed up by the water, she also finds out the truth about the family secrets that
    have been kept from her for too long.  As it turns out, not everything was just Ruby’s imagine.

    RUBY'S IMAGINE is a true gem of a novel.  You become immediately immersed in Ruby’s world through her use of
    highly evocative words and her pure feelings for everyone and everything around her.  The story is set during the
    destruction of Hurricane Katrina.  Along with a moving story about family and community, there is a very real message
    about the environment, a subject that is becoming more and more important to every one of us.  

    Most importantly though, Ruby is a character to cherish.  Someone who is as in tune with nature and the people
    around her as she is with herself.  Someone who is nonjudgmental, loving, and forgiving.  Someone who likes to make
    a difference.  She is guaranteed to be a character that you will remember for a long time to come.