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Lenore Look
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Ruby Lu, Brave and True Paperback – January 1, 2006

by Lenore Look (Author), Anne Wilsdorf (Illustrator)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 74 ratings
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Most days the best thing about being Ruby is everything. Like when she's the star of her own backyard magic show. Or when she gives a talk at the school safety assembly on the benefits of reflective tape. Or when she rides the No. 3 bus all the way to Chinatown to visit GungGung and PohPoh.

And then there are the days when it's very hard to be Ruby. Like when her mom suggests Chinese school on Saturdays. Or when her little brother, Oscar, spills all of Ruby's best magician secrets. Or when her parents don't think she's old enough to drive!

Join Ruby Lu on her first adventure and discover your own best things about her!
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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    6 - 10 years
  2. Print length
    112 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    1 - 5
  5. Lexile measure
    640L
  6. Dimensions
    5.13 x 0.3 x 7.63 inches
  7. Publisher
    Atheneum Books for Young Readers
  8. Publication date
    January 1, 2006
  9. ISBN-10
    1416913890
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1416913894
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lenore Look is the author of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, an ALA Notable Book, as well as its sequels, Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything and Ruby Lu, Star of the Show. Her picture books include Love as Strong as Ginger, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Stephen T. Johnson; Henry’s First-Moon Birthday; and Uncle Peter’s Amazing Chinese Wedding, both illustrated by Yumi Heo. She lives in Hong Kong.

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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (January 1, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1416913890
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1416913894
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 6 - 10 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 640L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 1 - 5
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.89 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.13 x 0.3 x 7.63 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

About the author

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Lenore Look

Lenore Look

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Lenore Look began making picture books in kindergarten, and it took her the next thirty years to get it right. Her first book was finally published in 1999, followed by more picture books and two chapter book series. On good days, she's a regular writing machine. On bad days, she goes shopping. Her Alvin Ho series has turned her into a Red Sox fan (see photo), and a wearer of Sox paraphernalia (see photo), and a collector of Fenway Park trivia (see same photo). Her Ruby Lu series is set in Seattle, where she grew up, and makes her long for foggy mornings and slugs on the sidewalks. She currently lives in New Jersey.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
74 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rose T
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2014
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I like Ruby Lu because she's Chinese and has a gung gung and pohpoh just like me and she's goes to Chinese school too!
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iQ Garcia
5.0 out of 5 stars Just as promised
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015
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It was in really good condition and it shipped quickly. Thank you! My niece loved it.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2016
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Cute book for an elementary school age kid!
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Writer Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars Great alternative to Junie B!
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2007
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My eight-year-old Asian-American daughter loves this book - Ruby Lu is a lot like her - spunky, likes magic, and is proud of her heritage. It's a plus that the setting is Seattle - where many of our relatives live.
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mcHaiku
5.0 out of 5 stars RUBY LU IS OUR LUCKY FORTUNE COOKY !
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2005
This book could be called a "quick read" but DON'T you do that. Take it as slow as if you are Ruby Lu backing out of the driveway when you're almost 8 years old, with your baby brother in the back seat . . .

Then read about every neighborhood character; next, flip the page corners that reveal the secret of a magic trick; learn the true meaning of "LOL"(a computer phrase not included in "Ruby's Fantastic Glossary") . . . oh, and don't miss the Dedication, either.

Ruby Lu will lift any Monday morning gloom, then snuggle close with the kids at bedtime & celebrate reading together. You will soon be caught up in the imaginations of Ruby Lu & the whole menagerie. Lenore Look delivers pure delight, plus *heart-healthy* laughs. One thing sure you'll be scouting the bookstore for the team of Lenore Look & Anne Wilsdorf every time you go shopping.

REVIEWER mcHAIKU claims this book is as sweet as "daan taht" and as satisfying as my last "dim sum" in S.F.'s Chinatown.
2 people found this helpful
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Lee Lee Chin
5.0 out of 5 stars Treasured Memories
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2007
It is a joy to read Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look. The author captures the characteristic and experiences of an eight year old child wonderfully.

This is an enjoyable book for both the young and the young at heart. It will bring a smile to your face as you read through the pages.
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Betsy Bird
4.0 out of 5 stars Let's all ride in the car car, let's all ride in the... car?
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2005
My library is divided into five different reading levels. In the first are the baby books, next come picture books, and after that easy readers for kids who are just beginning to read on their own. After that come the young reader books (early chapter books in laymen's terms) and finally full-out chapter books. The younger readers contain the widest assortment of reading levels. All of them are for kids who are past "Cat In the Hat" but aren't yet reading, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". Writing early chapter titles is therefore a monumental and infinitely difficult task. The so-so writers come out with countless sci-fi spooky books and the like. The better writers are able to synthesize their writing into a delicate balance between real life issues and situations that kids are going to find interesting. Paul Danzinger's, "Amber Brown" books do this brilliantly. And now "Ruby Lu, Brave and True" does too.

Ruby Lu likes her life. Who wouldn't? She has lots of friends, a teacher who's a magician, and now a brand new baby brother, Oscar. Ruby has problems too, though. She gets into a competition with her friend Emma. Emma has a little brother named Sam, and she and Lily constantly compare their brother's developmental processes. Then there's the fact that Lily's going to Chinese school to learn her family's language and she doesn't pick it up immediately. There's Christina, the mean girl on the street who makes fun of everyone for wearing Lily's dad's knitting. And then there was that time that Lily parked the family car in the principal's parking spot... Well, it just adds up to a lot of a problems but also a lot of fine fine solutions too. In the end, Lily meets her cousin from China, Flying Duck, and the book finishes off with a highly satisfactory (not to mention touching) ending.

Recently I was at a meeting where some librarians were discussing books for an upcoming Summer Reading Program. We needed to make a list of titles. Because "Ruby Lu, Brave and True" is now in paperback, someone thought it might make a good choice. Across from me a librarian commented, "It's a great book. But then there's that scene where Ruby drives her little baby brother to school...". This is "Ruby Lu"'s unfortunate and almost fatal flaw. For reasons that only Lenore Look herself could explain, there's a car driving sequence in this book that is jaw-droppingly bad. Not "bad" as in "badly written". It's written beautifully. No, I mean "bad" as in "thoughtless, irresponsible, and completely unnecessary". Here's the scoop: Lily gets to sit on her grandpa's lap to drive after watching her grandmother learn on the same car. Later, she puts her little brother in his carseat and drives the two of them to Chinese school. The chapter actually offers step-by-step instructions on how to get away with this. "The way to start a car is this: Get the car keys...Open the garage door...Put your baby brother in his car seat and buckle his belt fast...Move the driver's seat all the way forward...Move the steering wheel all the way down...Check your lipstick...Buckle seat belt...Insert key...Vroom!". About the time the instructions say, "Can't reach the gas pedal? Use a snow shovel", this otherwise fine book had lost me. I've left out the amusing side-comments that come between the instructions, but I think you get the general gist here. Now I'm not so naïve as to think that hundreds of little kids are going to follow Ruby's lead and start driving their parents' cars hither and thither. But let's look at the consequences of Ruby's actions. She's caught when she parks in the school principal's parking spot. Her punishment? Her father yells briefly and Ruby cries. So she gets a big hug and is asked if she learned her lesson. " `I learned,' she whispered, her voice slipping into dreams, `never to park in the principal's space'".

Now kids do all sorts of irresponsible things in books. Pippi Longstocking, for example, single-handedly defeats armed robbers. But Pippi is a fantasy character. Ruby Lu is a very realistic character in a very realistic (if fun) book. This chapter has her place herself and her little sibling in very real danger, get yelled at a little (the yelling consists entirely of her father informing Ruby that a car is not a magic trick), and then doesn't learn ANYTHING after all. So what's the result? The result is that when librarians around the country consider adding "Ruby Lu" to their summer reading lists, their recommended reads, and their favorite book catalogs, they'll remember this scene in the book and think twice about recommending it to ANYONE. I was so happy when I saw this book because I constantly get requests from parents saying that they want a book for their children about a "real" little girl. Do I recommend Ruby or not? How damaging is this chapter?

The truth of the matter is that this book is still remarkable in many ways. The writing is superb. As an author, Look has a dry wit that both kids and parents will adore. When, for example, Oscar fails to produce his first word for his beloved older sister, "Ruby felt her love for him getting thin around the edges". Knitters will adore the sections that talk of how Ruby's father was adept at the garter stitch, the cable stitch, the fisherman's knot, the basket weave and, "He even created his own stitch: the tofu block". Then let's consider the fact that much of this book is how small kids deal with their own cultural heritage. Ruby's Chinese background is so seamlessly woven into this story that it adds a great deal to the already amusing stories. Finally, there's the book's ending. I don't tear up reading books and I CERTAINLY don't tear up during young reader titles. Sure, I may have sniffled a little during, "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse", but "Ruby Lu" completely won me over with Ruby's meeting with her cousin Flying Duck. I will give nothing away except to say that it's so well done it almost makes me forget the ar-cay.

But not completely. I do recommend, "Ruby Lu" and I do recommend it to my library patrons. It's just painful to read such a nice book with such a jagged jarring flaw stuck smack dab in its middle. My dearest wish is that right now Leonore Look is working and slaving over a "Ruby Lu" sequel. One that has all the genius of its predecessor and none of its juvenile driving sequences. I apologize for getting all fuddy-duddy on you here and I still think this is a wonderful addition to any library. Just don't get surprised by irate parents who clutch their car keys just a little tighter to their chests when the kiddies are about.
37 people found this helpful
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Alli_Cat
2.0 out of 5 stars Choppy sentences, I couldn't even read until the end
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2021
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"Ruby held her breath. The tree held its plums. It was so quiet, you could hear someone's TV through an open window. Everyone turned to look at Oscar. But Oscar was holding his breath too, his cheeks inflated by balloons." I am a mother of two, now ages 7 and 9. This books is not worthy of them reading. Sorry, but there are well-written books out there. Do not bother with this series. I am returning the copies of this series.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Annu Agarwal
5.0 out of 5 stars Kids will love it
Reviewed in India on August 3, 2023
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The best part of the book is that the author has shared paragraph wherein Ruby talks so many good things about people around her.This way kids learn to appreciate everyone
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Lu Ephgrave
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2016
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Lovely story my 7 year old enjoyed this book
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