Free as a Bird

March 15, 2011
Grades 7-10 Following the death of her grandmother, eight-year-old Ruby Jean, who has Down syndrome, is left at Woodlands School, an institution for the mentally delayed. Problems abound: locked doors and a lack of privacy confound her, and she is molested by some of the staff; eventually, though, she receives life-skills training, is placed with an elderly couple, and finds employment at a sheltered workshop. After a mix-up leads her to believe she will be returned to Woodlands, she runs away, finding refuge among the homeless. Ruby Jean chronicles her grim but ultimately triumphant story in a first-person narrative that is both naive (filled with grammatical mistakes, misspellings, and misunderstandings) and perceptive at the same time. Set around Vancouver, British Columbia, between 1965 and 1996, the book features a fictional protagonist, but Woodlands School and its history are real. Characters with Down syndrome rarely take center stage in childrens literature; this novel is valuable for offering Ruby Jeans perspective as well as its insight into the history of how this vulnerable group has been treated.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)