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Ruby Reinvented

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About The Book

When Ruby flees Hollywood to escape the fame of her parents, she tells a lie that could ruin the life she loves at her new boarding school in this M!X novel about courage, families, and finding your own spotlight.

Ruby Miller has it made. As the only child of model-turned-TV-host Celestine Cruz and pro-baseball star Zack Miller, she has everything a twelve-year-old girl could want. Well, except for real friends.

After a disastrous birthday party where she discovers her supposed BFFs are only friends with her because her parents are uber-famous, she finds a place as far from fake and phony Hollywood as she can get: a boarding school in Camden, Maine. In her desperation to distance herself from her star-studded parents and the paparazzi who trail them, Ruby tells her new friends that she’s an orphan. She feels awful about lying, but once she starts, it’s hard to come clean. Plus, now that nobody’s comparing her to her perfect parents, Ruby can finally let her own talents as a dress designer take center stage.

When Ruby finds herself connecting with a cute boy who really did lose his parents, she’s torn between who she is and who she’s pretending to be. And with Parents’ Weekend approaching, she must find a way to keep her secret—without losing her new best friend, the trust of her first crush, and the chance to shine as the designer of her very own fashion show.

Excerpt

Ruby Reinvented Chapter 1
BEST. PARTY. EVER.

I’m pretty sure being twelve will be my most fabulous age yet, even though there are still three days until my actual birthday.

“Hey, Ruby.” Sophie holds up an empty bowl. “Got any more of these awesome chips?”

“Of course.” I take the chip bowl and flash Sophie my brightest BFF smile. She smiles back. It’s kinda weird how she looks right past me, like she’s looking for someone else, but whatever. Sophie’s been my best friend all year, ever since we started middle school. We like the same books, the same movies, and we’re both totally in love with the color orange. I mean, how many people truly love the color orange? It’s fate. I’m sure of it.

I weave in and out of a sea of friends, chip bowl in hand. Someone turns the music up, and dancing and laughing fill the room. I walk just a little bit taller as I realize that all these people are here for me—to celebrate my birthday, the first real birthday party I’ve ever had.

Someone brushes against my arm as I walk by, and the chip bowl wobbles in my hands when I see who it is.

Damon Gorman.

“Where ya going?” Damon’s big brown laser-beam eyes stare right at me, and I think I might pass out—right here at my own birthday party.

“Uhh, chips.” I hold up the empty bowl.

“Cool.” He nods and gives me his famous Damon Gorman smile, perfect with bright white teeth and deep dazzling dimples. He stares at me a couple of seconds longer and then turns away.

I’m still standing there, knees shaking and palms sweating. Uhhhh, chips. Real cool, Ruby. Real cool. For six months I’ve been dying to talk to Damon Gorman, and those are the bewitching words that sprout from my mouth.

I practically fly down the marble staircase. Seriously, I don’t feel my feet touching the floor. It’s a good thing, too, since we have a lot of stairs. Thirty-eight to be exact. I want to get down to the kitchen as quickly as possible so I can get back up to the party room.

Ellie is in the kitchen with a few other people who work at our house. She turns the water off and wipes her hands on a dish towel as I come in.

“What do you need, Bea?” Everyone in my family calls me Bea, because when I was little I couldn’t pronounce Ruby. Ellie says Ruby especially funny, since she rolls her r’s. Some of my friends have a hard time understanding her, but since Ellie’s been with our family since I was a baby, I’m used to her Russian accent.

I hold up the bowl. “More chips, please.”

She takes the chip bowl from my hand and fills it up. “Here you go, bubela.”

“Thanks, Ellie.” I skip out of the kitchen. “You’re the best!”

I head back up the stairs, slowly now that chips are spilling out over the top of the bowl, and toward the party room. It’s supposed to be a library, but since my parents are too busy to read much, they use it for entertaining. The room opens up to a really big deck that overlooks the beach, so guests seem to like it. The music is lower now, and my friends have divided into little groups. Some are at the food table, where I drop off the bowl of chips, some are messing around with their iPhones, and some are out on the deck. I spot Sophie out there with a bunch of other people and notice that Damon is one of them. I floof up my hair and open the double doors that lead outside. Sophie and Damon are standing closest to the doors, their backs toward me.

“I don’t think they’re here tonight,” Sophie says to Damon.

“Have you ever met them?” Damon asks.

“No. I’ve only seen them from a distance, when they came for parent-teacher conferences. It’s driving me crazy! I mean, how long do I have to act like Ruby’s best friend?”

I freeze.

Damon shrugs. “She’s not all that bad. She throws good parties.”

“Sure, but other than that she’s dullsville. For six months I’ve been bored out of my mind, waiting to meet them. Plus, how much more orange can I possibly wear? I look awful in orange. Everybody looks awful in orange.”

I can’t breathe.

“I wouldn’t mind meeting Zack. He could get me World Series tickets.” Damon winks.

Sophie gives Damon a push. “Forget him! What about her? If she met me, she’d see I’ve totally got what it takes to be a supermodel. Couldn’t you see me on next season’s America’s Next Cover Model??? Lots of supermodels go on to be movie stars, too, you know, which of course is my ultimate goal.”

Tears prick my eyes, and I blink hard.

“Well, they’ve got to show up sometime,” Sophie says. “But maybe they think their daughter is as lame as I do. She stinks at sports. And she’s not even that cute. I mean, how can you have a star baseball player as a dad and a supermodel as a mom and be so—talentless?”

Talentless.

I can’t stop the tears now. They’re streaming down my face. I’m practically blind as I fling open the double doors, run through the party room, and push my bedroom door open. I hurl myself inside, slam the door shut, and throw myself onto my bed.

Worst. Party. Ever.

About The Author

Ronni Arno Blaisdell is the author of Ruby Reinvented. She has written for several magazines, blogs, and websites. In a previous life she worked as a publicist in Hollywood, and eventually built a home in Maine. She is a keen SCBWI member and contributor to the KidLiterati.com blog.

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Awards and Honors

  • Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Junior Title

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