Ruby+Holler

//Ruby Holler//, by Sharon Creech Review by Michelle Ip

Dallas and Florida are orphans and have been living in the Boxton Creek Home all their life. Commonly known as the Trouble Twins, the only people willing to adopt them are creeps who treat them like slaves and torture them. The twins’ dream is to escape the Home in the middle of the night and board the train, but they begin to change their minds when a nice couple, Tiller and Sairy, temporarily take them in as companions for their trips. The couple drives them to their home, the magical Ruby Holler, a quaint place hidden away in the middle of a forest. Tiller and Sairy, like the twins, have never been apart from each other. Finally, after many debates, they decide to make plans to split up and go to their different destinations-Sairy and Dallas to Kangadoon and Tiller and Florida to the Rutabago River. Together they learn to cooperate with each other, growing as a family. But, as the days go by and it becomes time to depart, all of them have mixed feelings about leaving the enchanting Holler. 

I would recommend this book, even though it didn’t move as fast as I expected or wanted. The story itself wasn’t that great, but all the details the author put in really had me feel like I was in the Holler myself. I thought the resolution was good, though; it pulled in all the loose ends and made me laugh as well. Over all, it was a short and easy read, but I enjoyed every moment of it.