Ruby Holler

Ruby Holler

Front cover of first edition
Author	Sharon Creech
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Children's novel, magic realism
Publisher	HarperCollins (Joanna Cotler Books)
Publication date	26 March 2002
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	310 pp (first edition)
ISBN	0-06-027732-7
OCLC	45487314
LC Class	PZ7.C8615 Ru 2002[1]

Ruby Holler (2002) is a low fantasy novel for children by the American writer Sharon Creech, published by HarperCollins in 2002. It features adolescent orphan twins who are "trouble" and an eccentric older couple who adopt them and take them back to live in "magical" Ruby Holler (hollow).^[1]

Creech won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognizing the year's best children's book published in the U.K. (Bloomsbury Children's Books).^[2] In a retrospective citation, the librarians call it "a beautifully written story about love and trust and how the strength and goodness of human beings can overcome all the odds".^[2] Creech was the first American winner of the British award and the first person to win both the American Newbery Medal (Walk Two Moons, 1994) and the British Carnegie.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Plot

The story starts in the Boxton Creek Home, an 'orphanage' run by a strict couple, the Trepids. A thirteen-year-old boy named Dallas, who is an imaginative young teenager, and his twin sister Florida, a sassy and bold girl, have been living for a long time in the Home, and they have been punished many times for breaking of the rules that the Trepids post all over the House. They have been adopted many times and then returned for various reasons, often by fault of the adopters. Because of this, they have been named the "trouble twins." They have a plan to run away and board a train.

Outside of Boxton, in a plot of land called Ruby Holler, Tiller and Sairy Morey, a very old couple whose children have grown up and left, are sitting and discussing about their plain lives, that they want a new adventure. The two decide to foster care for children, and they adopt Dallas and Florida. Although Sairy, a very kind and trusting old lady, is very excited about the idea, Tiller, a "crotchety old boot", is doubtful of the kids in Ruby Holler. Even though the twins enjoy the freedom and adventure in the holler, they're still suspicious and think that Tiller and Sairy will mistreat them like others before, although their suspicions are soon proven false. Tiller and Sairy tell Dallas and Florida that they are planning on each going on separate trips, and they want the twins to come on each: Dallas with Sairy onto an island, and Florida with Tiller on a rafting trip. All of them are uneasy about leaving their partner, but they don't reveal it. Tiller and Sairy use their "understone funds," underground savings that they've kept for years, for the trips.

When Dallas gets adopted he first leaves behind his twin Florida. Elsewhere, Mr. Trepid, who has heard about the understone funds from Dallas and Florida as they ran into each other in Boxton while getting supplies for the trips, asks a shady man called Z, Tiller and Sairy's neighbor, to map out Ruby Holler, but doesn't say why. Z feels uneasy doing so because he likes Tiller and Sairy, but does so anyway, stalling with the assistance, as well as helping with the Ruby Holler family prepare for their trips. Dallas and Florida, however, still think that Tiller and Sairy are still trouble, so they take the supplies for the trips and run away, but don't get far from their cabin. Sairy and Tiller "find" the twins camping out, and say what a good idea the twins had to test the supplies and equipment. They suggest practice trips closer to home. While on the trips, Tiller and Sairy learn about the twins' past and realize that the Trepids were horrible people.

While on their trips, Z continues to stall with production of Mr. Trepid's map, as he probably feels more protective of the kids because he believes that Dallas and Florida are really his biological children because the Carters' mother named on the birth certificate was his wife. Eventually he gives Mr Trepid a map with possible hiding places, but takes the understone funds to prevent them from being stolen from Mr. Trepid. On Tiller and Florida's small trip while rafting down a river, their boat capsizes and Tiller suffers a heart attack. Luckily, Dallas, Sairy, and Z find them and Tiller is taken to a hospital where he recovers. Z starts bonding with the twins and they set up traps for Mr. Trepid while he looks for the understone funds and fails to find them.

In the end, two of Tiller and Sairy's biological children visit the Holler to check on Tiller's health and suggest they send the twins back to the Boxton Creek Home. Dallas and Florida hear their conversation and run away again before hearing Tiller and Sairy's denial. In the morning, Dallas and Florida smell food from the cabin and return to Ruby Holler.

Characters

Dallas: Dallas is one of the protagonists of the novel. He is thirteen years old and was abandoned by his mother as an infant and lived at the Boxton Creek Home for his whole life, except when he was adopted and sent back by families that saw him and his sister as trouble. He is very imaginative and silent, often letting Florida speak for them both. He often thinks situations will turn out for the best, although he is often proven wrong. When a resident of the Boxton Creek Home was dying, Mr. Trepid told Dallas to save him, but he fails and the child dies. He somewhat admires Z and is close friends with Sairy.

Florida: Florida is Dallas's twin sister. Like him, she was abandoned to the orphanage at a young age and was sent to many homes with Dallas and then returned, and the two are very close to each other. She is very bold and outspoken, and very hateful of almost everything. She often thinks that she and Dallas can take care of themselves, although she does sometimes show care for others. When Florida first enters Ruby Holler, she is very suspicious of Tiller and Sairy, thinking they will be like other families before. She does not know how to swim, which is unfortunate when she falls out of the boat on a rafting trip, although she knows basic CPR, which she uses to revive Tiller after his heart attack.

Sairy: Sairy is an old woman who lives in Ruby Holler with her husband. She is very kind and compassionate, especially with children. She also is very trusting. Her dream is to have another adventure before she dies. She once lived in New York City, and Tiller wrote to her every week from Ruby Holler. Eventually she left the city and married Tiller. She has four children that are adults and have left Ruby Holler.

Tiller: Tiller is Sairy's cranky husband. He is about her age and, unlike her, is distrusting and doubtful, much like Florida. He was born on a houseboat and then lived in Ruby Holler all his life. When all his children left, he planted a tree in their memory, but it is accidentally chopped down by Dallas and Florida. His plan is to build a boat with Florida and take a rafting trip down a river. During the trip, the boat falls over in rough waters and he suffers a heart attack, although he eventually recovers.

Z: Z (whose full name is never revealed) is Tiller and Sairy's neighbor. He's described as a shady figure who helps Mr. Trepid find the understone funds in exchange for a large amount of money. He is not very responsible, but he easily learns helpful information. He helps the Ruby Holler family prepare for their trips, during which he learns that Dallas and Florida are his children when he sees Dallas's birth certificate and sees his ex-wife's name listed as his mother. He is very good friends with Tiller and Sairy and helpful to them.

Mr Trepid: Mr. Trepid co-runs the Boxton Creek Home with his wife and assistant. He is very strict, posting rules in every room of the house and punishing the children who break the rules with chores or time in the basement "thinking corner." He is also greedy, dreaming of expensive luxuries and an easy life. When he hears about Tiller and Sairy's understone funds, he hires Z to help him find the money.

Mrs Trepid: Mrs. Trepid is Mr. Trepid's wife, who also runs the orphanage. Like her husband, she is strict with children and dreams about an easier life. She often claims to suffer from constant migraines and is suspicious of her husband's actions to earn more money.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The Guardian, Philip Pullman remarked on Ruby Holler's "larger-than-life, brighter-than-natural quality" and concluded that while neither great literature nor the author's best work, "it's a book that shows how very satisfying unobtrusive craftsmanship can be, even working with slight materials, and it's fun, and it celebrates kindness and decency." Regarding the main plot line, he observed that "it's not hard to predict that there will be problems to overcome and dangers to face, but that they'll all live happily ever after." Creech makes it work for all kinds of readers by "a complete certainty of tone" and by "putting the camera in the right place". In particular, and unusually for a children's book, she "distributes her attention equally among the adults and the children. She looks at whatever is interesting, whatever moves the story forward, and tells us what she sees, and never tells us more than we need."^[3]

Creech traveled to London for five days in July 2003 to receive the Carnegie Medal. Concluding online coverage for The Guardian, Dina Rabinovitch called Ruby Holler "an old-fashioned tale of two children in peril rescued by the wisdom of two old folk. What sets it apart is Creech's typical lightness of touch; the glancing way she writes means you barely realise that, even in this solid love story of older folk, the wife is less sure of marriage than the man."^[4]

Notes

References

External links

• Ruby Holler in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, a Norwegian(?) library record for the first British edition, with front cover image
• On Ruby Holler by the author