Lois Ruby – författare

I ask you, why do weird things always happen to me? Thirteen-year-old Dana Shannon is no stranger to intrigue. Not long ago she discovered a skeleton behind a wall in her family''s house -- a house in Lawrence, Kansas, that was once owned by a Quaker family, the Weavers. The diary Dana found in the sealed-off room revealed that the skeleton belonged to a runaway slave named Lizbeth Charles. Now Dana''s house is a newly refurbished bed-and-breakfast, and the first guests are two shady characters who believed the house is hiding another secret. When Dana gets in their way, she becomes embroiled in a second mystery, this one involving slaves and the Weavers again, and -- somehow - Delaware Indians. As Dana tried to fit the puzzle pieces together, alternate chapters tell the story of James Baylor Weaver, a thirteen-year-old boy, in 1857. It is up to James to fulfill a promise Lizbeth made before her death. He must travel hundreds of miles to retrieve four slaves and bring them to freedom. The journey will test his strength, endurance, and courage; it will also test his character, when he has to make a terrible choice... Readers of Soon Be Free will quickly be caught up in this fast-paced mystery-adventure that links teenagers from two different centuries.

When Dana uncovers a skeleton hidden in the wall of her home, she also uncovers a dark secret that stretches back years.When twelve-year-old Dana Shannon starts to strip away wallpaper in her family’s old house, she’s unprepared for the surprise that awaits her. A hidden room—containing a human skeleton! How did such a thing get there? And why was the tiny room sealed up? With the help of a diary found in the room, Dana learns her house was once a station on the Underground Railroad. The young woman whose remains Dana discovered was Lizbet Charles, a conductor and former slave. As the scene shifts between Dana’s world and 1856, the story of the families that lived in the house unfolds. But as pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place, one haunting question remains—why did Lizbet Charles die?

A terminally ill teenager is forced to choose between her religion and her lifeAdam doesn''t think much of it when Miriam faints in class. She''s an oddball, a student who hardly talks, never makes eye contact, and wears clothes that seem straight out of the 19th century. She says she''s fine, and he wants to believe her. But when she passes out while they''re working on an English assignment, Adam takes Miriam to the last place she wants to go: the hospital. Miriam has bone cancer. She believes that God will heal her, but if He doesn''t, she plans to let herself die. Miriam is a member of a devout religious sect in which women have little power and medicine is strictly forbidden. In order for Miriam to forgo treatment, Adam''s father sues the state on her behalf—even as Adam himself tries to convince her to accept the doctors'' help. As her illness rages on, Miriam will teach Adam the meaning of love and faith—and he will give her a reason to live.

An angry teenager is sucked into a gang of neo-Nazis Dan shows up on his first day at a new school with long blond hair, John Lennon glasses, and a shy grin that makes every girl in the hallway swoon. But he only has eyes for Laurel, who’s in his English class. Laurel stirs feelings in Dan that he never knew existed, and suddenly, he understands love. Soon, he will understand hate as well.   When a gang of violent young men invades the annual Halloween party, most of Laurel’s friends stay away. The men are white supremacists with shaved heads, steel-toed boots, and a look in their eyes that says they’re ready to fight. But something in their attitude draws Dan toward them. He’s angry at the world, and these skinheads seem to understand how he feels. As he sinks deeper into their twisted world of hate and rage, Dan risks losing not only Laurel, but also his soul.    

A spunky young girl forms an unlikely friendship with a dying Chinese man while living in a group home For Greta, having light and carefree Hackey hanging around her mom is a lot more fun than having an ordinary dad. But Hackey isn’t her father—he’s more like a pimp, and no matter how friendly he is, he still treats Greta’s mom like dirt. When the situation at home goes from bad to worse, Greta is moved into a home for at-risk children where she meets some of the most interesting girls she has ever known—and a shy young boy named Wing.   Greta’s riding a San Francisco cable car when she notices Wing carrying a huge basket of delicious-smelling food. It’s for his grandfather, Old Man, who is dying in the Chinese hospital. Although they don’t speak the same language, Greta and Old Man will become fast friends—two survivors, who refuse to give up on life.  

A young girl fleeing Hitler takes refuge in Shanghai, where she learns that she must fight to surviveThroughout tomboy Ilse''s childhood, her mother has tried to force her to behave like a proper Austrian lady. But when Hitler annexes their country, the family flees, boarding a packed freighter and sailing around the world in search of a safe harbor. The United States refuses to take them, so they proceed to China and make a new home in steamy, mysterious Shanghai. Their lodgings are cramped, money is tight, and Ilse''s father cannot find work—but Ilse is enchanted by the city''s international flavor. In Shanghai''s shadows she finds the adventure of a lifetime. When the Japanese occupy the city, Ilse and her brother begin working in an underground resistance cell. Each day, the city grows more dangerous, and Ilse must lie, cheat, and steal in order for her family to eat. She is a long way from Austria, but she will do whatever it takes to survive.

In a new town, Dovi’s family befriends a young boy who was abandoned at their restaurant Dovi Chandler collects yearbooks. She has them from all over the country: mementos of every time her parents uprooted her to a new town, and a new crackpot business venture. They’ve managed apartment houses, tried to save failing bookstores, even sold Tupperware, but all it’s ever gotten them is debt and a new yearbook for Dovi to add to the pile. It’s not until her parents take over the Pig-Out Inn that Dovi feels ready to put down roots. It’s just another truck-stop diner, but to Dovi it’s home—and she soon discovers that she and her family aren’t the only ones living there.   Hiding out in 1 of the cabins is a 9-year-old boy named Tag. He was stashed there by his father, who is negotiating a painful divorce. Tag is an entrepreneurial genius, and his brilliant business schemes will offer Dovi and her mother a chance to make the Pig-Out Inn a success—and learn the true meaning of family.    

A terminally ill teenager is forced to choose between her religion and her lifeAdam doesn''t think much of it when Miriam faints in class. She''s an oddball, a student who hardly talks, never makes eye contact, and wears clothes that seem straight out of the 19th century. She says she''s fine, and he wants to believe her. But when she passes out while they''re working on an English assignment, Adam takes Miriam to the last place she wants to go: the hospital. Miriam has bone cancer. She believes that God will heal her, but if He doesn''t, she plans to let herself die. Miriam is a member of a devout religious sect in which women have little power and medicine is strictly forbidden. In order for Miriam to forgo treatment, Adam''s father sues the state on her behalf—even as Adam himself tries to convince her to accept the doctors'' help. As her illness rages on, Miriam will teach Adam the meaning of love and faith—and he will give her a reason to live.

An angry teenager is sucked into a gang of neo-Nazis Dan shows up on his first day at a new school with long blond hair, John Lennon glasses, and a shy grin that makes every girl in the hallway swoon. But he only has eyes for Laurel, who’s in his English class. Laurel stirs feelings in Dan that he never knew existed, and suddenly, he understands love. Soon, he will understand hate as well.   When a gang of violent young men invades the annual Halloween party, most of Laurel’s friends stay away. The men are white supremacists with shaved heads, steel-toed boots, and a look in their eyes that says they’re ready to fight. But something in their attitude draws Dan toward them. He’s angry at the world, and these skinheads seem to understand how he feels. As he sinks deeper into their twisted world of hate and rage, Dan risks losing not only Laurel, but also his soul.    

A spunky young girl forms an unlikely friendship with a dying Chinese man while living in a group home For Greta, having light and carefree Hackey hanging around her mom is a lot more fun than having an ordinary dad. But Hackey isn’t her father—he’s more like a pimp, and no matter how friendly he is, he still treats Greta’s mom like dirt. When the situation at home goes from bad to worse, Greta is moved into a home for at-risk children where she meets some of the most interesting girls she has ever known—and a shy young boy named Wing.   Greta’s riding a San Francisco cable car when she notices Wing carrying a huge basket of delicious-smelling food. It’s for his grandfather, Old Man, who is dying in the Chinese hospital. Although they don’t speak the same language, Greta and Old Man will become fast friends—two survivors, who refuse to give up on life.  

In a new town, Dovi’s family befriends a young boy who was abandoned at their restaurant Dovi Chandler collects yearbooks. She has them from all over the country: mementos of every time her parents uprooted her to a new town, and a new crackpot business venture. They’ve managed apartment houses, tried to save failing bookstores, even sold Tupperware, but all it’s ever gotten them is debt and a new yearbook for Dovi to add to the pile. It’s not until her parents take over the Pig-Out Inn that Dovi feels ready to put down roots. It’s just another truck-stop diner, but to Dovi it’s home—and she soon discovers that she and her family aren’t the only ones living there.   Hiding out in 1 of the cabins is a 9-year-old boy named Tag. He was stashed there by his father, who is negotiating a painful divorce. Tag is an entrepreneurial genius, and his brilliant business schemes will offer Dovi and her mother a chance to make the Pig-Out Inn a success—and learn the true meaning of family.    

A young girl fleeing Hitler takes refuge in Shanghai, where she learns that she must fight to surviveThroughout tomboy Ilse''s childhood, her mother has tried to force her to behave like a proper Austrian lady. But when Hitler annexes their country, the family flees, boarding a packed freighter and sailing around the world in search of a safe harbor. The United States refuses to take them, so they proceed to China and make a new home in steamy, mysterious Shanghai. Their lodgings are cramped, money is tight, and Ilse''s father cannot find work—but Ilse is enchanted by the city''s international flavor. In Shanghai''s shadows she finds the adventure of a lifetime. When the Japanese occupy the city, Ilse and her brother begin working in an underground resistance cell. Each day, the city grows more dangerous, and Ilse must lie, cheat, and steal in order for her family to eat. She is a long way from Austria, but she will do whatever it takes to survive.

A suspenseful and heartfelt story about an era whose uncertainties, controversies, and dangers will seem anything but distant to contemporary readers.If thirteen-year-old Marty Rafner had his way, he''d spend the summer of 1953 warming the bench for his baseball team, listening to Yankees games on the radio, and avoiding preparations for his bar mitzvah. Instead, he has to deal with FBI agents staking out his house because his parents—professors at the local college—are suspected communist sympathizers. Marty knows what happens to communists, or Reds, as his friends call them: They lose their jobs, get deported...or worse. Two people he''s actually met, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, have been convicted of being communist spies, and they''re slated to be executed in two months.Marty just wants everything to go back to normal, but that''s impossible thanks to the rumors that his parents are traitors. As his friends and teammates turn on him and federal agents track his every move, Marty isn''t sure what to believe. Is his family really part of a Red Menace working against the United States? And even if they''re simply patriotic Americans who refuse to be bullied by the government, what will it cost them?As the countdown to the Rosenbergs'' execution date continues, it may be up to Marty to make sure his family survives.

"Comic, creepy, calamitous, and . . . completely satisfying."—Claudia Mills, author of The Lost Language and Zero ToleranceWith his bar mitzvah on the horizon, thirteen-year-old Eddie needs to do a community service project, and he needs to start yesterday. Against his better judgment, he ends up with a volunteering gig at Silver Brook Pavilion retirement home, where the elderly residents call him "Eddie Whatever" so they won''t have to remember his last name. Eddie expects his time at Silver Brook to drag, but at least his friend (and secret crush) Tessa will be there to keep him company—if he can manage to avoid embarrassing himself in front of her.Soon, though, the seniors upend all Eddie''s assumptions. Their lives are full of excitement, with a dramatic courtship unfolding, long-hidden secrets emerging, rumors of a vengeful ghost running rampant, and a thief on the loose.When suspicion for the thefts falls on Eddie, he has to team up with the seniors—and Tessa—to clear his name and solve the mysteries of Silver Brook.

Salem, Massachusetts - 1692Thomas is marked as an outcast the moment he steps off the ship from England. As a Quaker, he''s outnumbered and distrusted by Salem''s Puritans. And as an orphan without any useful skills, he has nowhere to live and no way to earn his keep. In a stroke of luck—perhaps good, perhaps not—he''s taken in by the aged widow Prudence Blevins, who''s rumored to be a witch.Patience has tried all her life to be a good Puritan—obedient to God and to her elders—and all her life, she has come up short. But her orderly world is upended when her younger sister, Abigail, falls victim to a mysterious affliction. The same torments have stricken other Salem girls, who claim they''re being bewitched by servants of the Devil. Soon the girls, including Abigail, begin accusing neighbors of witchcraft.As the community becomes consumed by suspicion and fear, Thomas and Patience search for the truth. To protect those they care about, they will have to question everything they think they know: their faiths, their loyalties, and their places in Salem.

Salem, Massachusetts - 1692Thomas is marked as an outcast the moment he steps off the ship from England. As a Quaker, he’s outnumbered and distrusted by Salem’s Puritans. And as an orphan without any useful skills, he has nowhere to live and no way to earn his keep. In a stroke of luck—perhaps good, perhaps not—he’s taken in by the aged widow Prudence Blevins, who’s rumored to be a witch.Patience has tried all her life to be a good Puritan—obedient to God and to her elders—and all her life, she has come up short. But her orderly world is upended when her younger sister, Abigail, falls victim to a mysterious affliction. The same torments have stricken other Salem girls, who claim they’re being bewitched by servants of the Devil. Soon the girls, including Abigail, begin accusing neighbors of witchcraft.As the community becomes consumed by suspicion and fear, Thomas and Patience search for the truth. To protect those they care about, they will have to question everything they think they know: their faiths, their loyalties, and their places in Salem.