The Search for Baby Ruby

March 9, 2015
The members of 12-year-old Jess’s fragmented family reunite for her oldest sister’s wedding in Los Angeles, but the joyous event turns sour when Jess’s baby niece, Ruby, goes missing while Jess is babysitting her. Wracked with guilt, Jess vows to find Ruby, but it’s too daunting a task to accomplish on her own. She solicits the help of 15-year-old middle sister Teddy, the black sheep of the family whose shoplifting has landed her in reform school. The two amateur detectives make some headway putting together clues, but then Jess also disappears. Shreve (The Lovely Shoes) offers a chilling premise, but much of the plot feels manufactured with clues falling too easily in place, and the actions and reactions of characters sometimes ringing false; that the sisters take as long as they do to alert the authorities and their own family of Ruby’s disappearance strikes a blow to the story’s believability from the outset. Still, the novel is tense and fast-paced, which—along with the innate scariness of the kidnapping—will be enough to hook many readers. Ages 8–12.

March 1, 2015
After her niece is kidnapped from a hotel room, 12-year-old Jess must find the baby and get her back.Jess, the youngest in her fractured family, is the responsible one, the one everyone depends on. So when her feckless adult brother bullies her into babysitting so he can go to sister Whee's wedding rehearsal dinner (which means that Jess can't), she dutifully acquiesces. Feeling resentful and uncharacteristically rebellious, Jess leaves Baby Ruby on the bed while she goes into the bathroom to try on Whee's wedding dress and play with her makeup. When Jess comes out, the baby is gone. Convinced that the kidnapper is a man she saw hanging around the hallway, Jess goes to investigate, telling only her older sister Teddy what she's up to. The plot, which youngsters should find suspenseful, is wildly preposterous, with each turn more ludicrous than the one before. But Shreve's main interest is in the family dynamic, particularly Jess' close connection to her troubled but devoted sister Teddy. Their relationship, supported by the solidly centered, paternal detective (a canny foil for the girls' more solipsistic parents), is the strongest part of the novel and rings true.An entertaining thriller with a feel-good ending that, despite its over-the-top plot, showcases the emotionally resonant ties that bind sisters and families. (Thriller. 8-12)

April 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Jess O'Fines is not the type of girl to cause any trouble. In fact, she's practically an expert on not making problems. The whole family, including both her divorced parents, have traveled to California to attend her sister Whee's wedding. Jess is looking forward to wearing her violet dress and spending the evening as her father's date. Her plans are crushed when her older brother neglects to get a babysitter for his daughter, Ruby. Jess is immediately saddled with the job. Things take a turn for the worse when Jess makes the mistake of going to the bathroom to try on her sister's dress and makeup with the door closed. When she comes out baby Ruby is gone. Sure that everyone will be utterly disappointed with her lack of responsibility, she tell no one but her other sister, Teddy. Jess must piece together the tiny clues to find Ruby: a man heading toward the room from the elevator and a strange woman hiding in the linen closet. As Jess leaves the hotel to search, she is kidnapped by the very people she seeks. Kids may be confused by the introduction of all of the characters at the start of the book and the mystery is somewhat slow to unfold. How did the culprits get into the room to take the baby and what were they doing in the hotel anyway? Why was Jess kidnapped? Some of the clues just don't seem to add up. Readers discover Jess's volatile relationship to the members of her family through the course of the story and that gives her feelings some context, but the actual kidnapping seems forced VERDICT A less-than-satisfying mystery.-Patricia Feriano, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
Grades 4-7 As children, sisters Jess and Teddy devised the game of Sleuth to while away the hours while they waited for their mother to come home from work. Now that game has become all too real. Jess was supposed to join Teddy and the rest of the family at the wedding rehearsal dinner for her older sister Wheeunfortunately, she is made to babysit Baby Ruby while the rest of the clan goes on to the party. Jess puts Ruby on a towel on the hotel-room floor and then wanders into the bathroom to experiment with Whee's makeup collection. When she comes out, the baby is missing. Jess convinces Teddy to tell no one until they have a chance to sleuth around. But this isn't a childhood game of make-believe; the baby is missing and may be in danger. Short chapters and a story that moves forward at a brisk pace will appeal to even reluctant readers, while Shreve's careful attention to character development prevents this book from becoming formulaic. A satisfying mystery from a former Edgar Award winner (Lucy Forever and Miss Rosetree, Shrinks, 1987).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)