Brand New School, Brave New Ruby (Ruby and the Booker Boys #1) (1) Paperback – Illustrated, July 1, 2008

Love these Ruby books! I FaceTime my granddaughter and read to here almost every night before she goes to bed. She is seven and they are perfect short chapter books for her that keep her interested with anticipation for the next chapter.

I have no dislikes about this book. Nice, clean well written book. My granddaughter loved it! I asked her questions at the end and she got them correct. When she first started reading, she enjoyed it so much she wanted to read it all in one day. I highly recommend it.

I handed this book to my granddaughter to read while driving home from school yesterday. By the time we finished our 30 minute drive she was already on page 34! This morning she said, Nani I finished the book!" I was so excited had to order another book today! This was obviously well written and captured her attention so much she couldn't out it down! KUDOS🤗🤗🤗🤗

My now 2nd grader loved the book. She read it quickly and wanted to read the other ones too. She liked that ruby had the guts to sing in front of her whole school.

This one is a pearl. Kind of expected it. The art is just too sweet for words. From Ruby's ownership of style to her innocuous smile, this little girl has a go-getter spirit that can take a collection a long ways.Kudos to Mr. Barnes for creating a winner like Ruby whose message is empowering without being overbearing. I really enjoyed following her enthusiasm from one of confidence, to concern, turned to bravery and ending with an extra dose of determination that will have followers of all ages seeking more.Way to go Ruby!

I ordered this book for my niece. I thought either I'd read it to her (she's in the first grade) or I'd put it aside for her to read later if I flipped through it and decided it wasn't really a sharing book. (I refuse to read books that I think are too boring. If my niece likes them, great for her, I'll get them for her if she wants, but she can read them HERSELF.)When she saw it she immediately screamed "IS THAT FOR ME?" and tried to snatch the book. Now, the girl is a reader, no doubt, but this response was a little extreme! Was it the fact that the protagonist is black, like her? I don't know.I took the book back, said I'd be glad to let her read it AFTER I breezed through it to make sure it was appropriate. ("Oh, if I only hold up three fingers on the first page, I can read it!" "I don't mean your reading level, honey.") Unfortunately, time has shown me that not every book really has what I like. Too many of them, even my old favorites, end up being put back because I go "Do I really, deep down, want my niece to read this at this age?" So I read through EVERY book before I pass it along or read it with her.Well, it's not exactly great literature. Ruby and her family are all a little too perfect - most popular kids in school, one skipped a grade - and the ending had me raising my eyebrows a bit - when Ruby takes being selected to read the announcements as a chance to get well-known by singing instead of reading them properly, the principal (formerly portrayed as quite strict) doesn't even tell her to do it right next time, but immediately gushes about how wonderful her singing is and how she can repeat the performance "any time". What? Seriously, what just happened there? Nothing in the real world, that's what.However, there's nothing offensive in there, and if the book doesn't stand out from other series by being very good, neither does it stand out by being comically bad.I would give it a solid three stars except that my niece has spent the past day struggling through this book. She's now 42 pages in, and loving it. I *know* it's too hard for her, but she's not letting that stop her. Now, she's a good reader, but she's not that good, and most of the time she gives up if something is too difficult or frustrating. Gives up FAST - she doesn't like feeling like she can't do something. Whatever she's seeing in this book, I want to see more of it. (And it's not like I didn't read my own forgettable fiction at her age. If I don't like it as an adult, well, I'm not the one reading it.)

Our eldest loved the book! I will be getting more!

My daughter fell in love with the main character, Ruby. She was completely ingrossed and didn't put it down until she finished it. I was so happy that she found a series that she liked that I tried to get all of this author's Ruby books. I am disappointed to say the author has had a terrible time getting these books in print or published at all. I purchased what I could and will keep on the look out for more.