It's 1931 . . . and Ruby and her family have lost everything in the Great Depression. Leaving behind her dad, her school friends and everything she knows, Ruby must move to Kettle Farm to stay with her cousins. Life in the country is new and strange, and Ruby has never felt like such an outsider. Thankfully she has her much-loved dog, Baxter, for company - until he gets up to mischief, and everything goes horribly wrong. . . Follow Ruby on her adventure in the second of four exciting stories about a happy-go-lucky girl in a time of great change.
It's 1930 . . . and Ruby Quinlan lives in a big house in Adelaide with her parents and her fox terrier, Baxter. As she gets ready for her 12th birthday party, Ruby has never been happier. But the world she knows is collapsing, and people everywhere are losing their jobs and their homes. Soon Ruby's comfortable life falls apart in ways she could never have imagined . . . Meet Ruby and join her adventure in the first of four stories about a happy-go-lucky girl in a time of great change.
Gwen's life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she's been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean. At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he's very warm indeed; the next he's freezing cold. Gwen's not sure what's going on there, but she's pretty much destined to find out.
It's 1983 in Sunshine, Melbourne, and funny, quick-thinking Marly is just trying to fit in. But being a 10-year-old boat refugee from Saigon doesn't make things easy. Especially when your cousins come to stay - permanently! Marly tries to teach them Australian ways, but as her school friends start making fun of her too, she is torn between her loyalties to her cousins and sticking up for what she knows is right, and wanting to fit in. To make matters worse, Marly discovers she has accidentally named herself after one of Michael Jackson's brothers ...
A New York Times bestseller and Oprah Book Club 2.0 selection, the epic, unforgettable story of a man determined to protect the woman he loves from the town desperate to destroy her. This beautiful and devastating debut heralds the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby Bell, “the kind of pretty it hurt to look at,” has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city—the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village—all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town’s dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy. Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom’s Juke, to Celia Jennings’s kitchen, where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby. Utterly transfixing, with unforgettable characters, riveting suspense, and breathtaking, luminous prose, Ruby offers an unflinching portrait of man’s dark acts and the promise of the redemptive power of love. Ruby was a finalist for the PEN America Robert Bingham Debut Novel Award, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and an Indie Next Pick.
It's 1808 . . . and Grace is living with her uncle in London. They have no money, and Grace is always lonely and often hungry. The best part of her day is going to Fleet Street to talk to the horses that she loves so much. One afternoon Grace can't resist taking a shiny red apple from a grocer's cart - and then another... Before she knows it, Grace is being chased through the streets! Will she be caught and sent to prison - or worse? Meet Grace and join her adventure in the first of four exciting stories about a brave convict girl who is given a second chance.
It's 1864 . . . and Poppy, disguised as a boy, has escaped from Bird Creek Mission to find her brother, Gus. Life on the road is hard, but Poppy is given shelter at the Summerhill Homestead. There she meets a new friend, Noni – but will Noni discover that Poppy is not who she says she is? And will Poppy find Gus before they lose each other forever? Follow Poppy on her adventure in the second of four exciting stories about a Gold Rush girl who dreams of a better life.
Fifty years after its first publication, discover the classic coming-of-age novel that confronts prejudice and injustice with power and humanity. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RITA MAE BROWN Molly Bolt is a young lady with a big character. Beautiful, funny and bright, Molly figures out at a young age that she will have to be tough to stay true to herself in 1950s America. In her dealings with boyfriends and girlfriends, in the rocky relationship with her mother and in her determination to pursue her career, she will fight for her right to happiness. Charming, proud and inspiring, Molly is the girl who refuses to be put in a box.
It's 1930 . . . and Ruby Quinlan lives in a big house in Adelaide with her parents and her fox terrier, Baxter. As she prepares for her twelfth birthday party, Ruby has never been happier, but the world outside is experiencing harder times. Ruby knows that lots of people are losing their jobs, but her own family life seems comfortable and secure ... until things start falling apart. Happy-go-lucky, compassionate and loving, Ruby is an unforgettable Australian Girl.
