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Rating: 
Summary: This book was way too confusing and tedious!
Review: I had the displeasure of reading Ruby Electric this summer (alongside my elementary school-aged child) and I was shocked to find how complicated and confusing this book turned out to be. At times, I found the story to be more than overwhelming. At other times, it was simply boring, and I had to put it down. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book. It is difficult and confusing to read. The author had good concepts for the reader to think about (i.e. divorce, juvenile delinquency, etc.), but her delivery was terrible.
Rating: 
Summary: Its bittersweet closure offers a measure of hope.
Review: What do a twelve-year-old girl, a missing wooly mammoth, and a run-down riverbed have in common? This may sound like the opening line of a joke, but it's actually the premise of RUBY ELECTRIC, and in this creatively plotted novel, it all ends up making sense. Ruby lives in Los Angeles, the movie-making capital of the world. It's a good place for her to grow up, since she wants more than anything to be a screenwriter. She imagines her life made into a movie, complete with sets and a soundtrack. More often than not, the star of the movie is either Ruby or her dad, who has been out of her life for years. Whether it's a western or a science fiction flick, Ruby's screenplays are her attempts to make sense of her life.Ruby's Los Angeles is not the Beverly Hills of movie stars and directors, though; she, her mom and her younger brother live next to the Los Angeles River, whose banks are strewn with garbage. When Ruby tries to apprehend some local vandals, she gets lumped in with the troublemakers and assigned community service. Some unlikely friendships --- and maybe even a romance or two --- are the surprising result. BR>
Ruby's story may not have a Hollywood ending, but its bittersweet closure does offer a measure of hope. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
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