Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes

April 1, 2012

Gr 6-8-At age two, when Ruby Redfort couldn't get her parents to understand that she was telling them about a theft she witnessed, she determined to give up baby talk and spruce up her verbal skills. By age seven, she had created a code that took weeks for well-educated adults to crack. Not surprisingly, 13-year-old Ruby is an exceptional code-breaker and clever detective who is contacted by a spy agency called Spectrum to help them crack a particularly difficult code. With her buddy Clancy and butler Hitch, she foils the villains (including a woman named Valerie "Nine Lives" Capaldi and a sly, slippery, and creepy Count) and saves the Jade Buddha from falling into their unscrupulous hands. Ruby's parents are kind but clueless and provide a foil for her brilliant ways. The mystery and intrigue, murder and mayhem are presented in a light tone and with a satirical touch sure to make readers laugh. Those familiar with the author's "Clarice Bean" novels may note that Clarice's favorite book character now has her own series. And since the Count escapes, Ruby's adventures are likely to continue.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at Washington DC Public Library

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 30, 2012
As smart and observant as her socialite parents are clueless, junior high student Ruby Redfort has the makings of a top-notch sleuth. But it’s her code-cracking skills that attract the attention of Spectrum, a secret intelligence agency that hires her. In this funny and action-packed first installment of an adventure series from Child, Ruby (who Child’s fans will recognize as her character Clarice Bean’s favorite fictional heroine) quickly becomes bored with her first Spectrum assignment, poring over the files of a code-breaking agent who met an untimely demise. With the help of her sidekick/classmate Clancy Crew, she ventures out from her well-hidden office into more dangerous territory to prevent the theft of a priceless jade Buddha statue. Playing a game of cat and mouse with criminals and fellow agents (who are furious at her for overstepping boundaries), Ruby finds her way into some dire situations, but readers will rest assured that she will find a way to squirm out of enemy hands. Child’s sardonic narration will grab readers from the get-go, and puzzles laced throughout will intrigue those who share Ruby’s passion for solving mysteries. Ages 10–13.

February 1, 2012
Ruby Redfort, the young sleuth in an imagined book series adored by Child's already-established character Clarice Bean, begins her very own series with this lukewarm mystery. The daughter of two clueless but kind socialites, Ruby displays an uncanny talent for observation from an early age. When her family's beloved housekeeper goes missing along with the entire contents of their house, and a likable but unlikely butler appears on the scene, Ruby suspects there is more to the situation than meets the eye. After being tapped by a spy agency called Spectrum to assist in an investigation, Ruby is pulled into the thick of a plot involving a museum exhibit her parents are staging. Character development is eschewed for quirkiness that can be charming, but it wears thin well before this offering winds itself down. Codes and puzzles featured throughout add some spark, and readers with a penchant for ciphers will enjoy working out the messages passed between Ruby and her best friend Clancy--and can visit a tie-in website for clues. However, the purposefully corny tone of Ruby's narrative voice ("Did anyone ever tell you that you can be a royal pain in the derriere?") falls flat. Fizzy style fails to buoy a slow-moving plot. Fans of Child's other works, however, will likely still be interested in checking this one out. (Mystery. 9-14)

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February 15, 2012
Grades 5-8 Readers familiar with Child's Clarice Bean chapter books will be delighted to see Clarice's mystery-solving hero, Ruby Redfort, star in her own book, a delightful homage to Louise Fitzhugh's classic Harriet the Spy (1964). Thirteen-year-old Ruby is supersmart and incredibly well organized; she has kept detailed notebooks (now up to 622) of her observations. Her code-cracking skills so impressed Harvard professors that they offered her a place at age eight, but Ruby chose to stay in her seemingly quiet town of Twinford, where she lives with her oblivious parents and their ancient housekeeper. Now a series of kooky mishaps leads to her being recruited as a code cracker by Spectrum, a secret crime-busting organization whose headquarters just happen to be in Twinford. This series opener shows much promise, with a swift pace, clever dialogue, and many codes and puzzles scattered throughout. Bold graphics, well-placed chapter breaks, and just enough irony will appeal to middle-school readers who grew up with Clarice Bean. Child's light, bright wit is in fine form here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2012
Pressed into service as a codebreaker by a super-secret spy agency, precocious and jaded Ruby Redfort finds herself at the center of a high-stakes robbery case. Fans of Child's previous series will recognize her wit and edgy humor. Though scattered prose and unwieldy details ultimately overwhelm the plot, aspiring girl spies will appreciate a heroine like Ruby.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)