The Fantastic Library Rescue and Other Major Plot Twists
Page 9
Dad introduces us to the reporter. Her name is Holly Day. She’s super-pretty and is wearing a fancy blue suit and high heels.
Holly turns to the camera and says: “Today I am with a group of extraordinary fifth-grade students who want to make a difference. They have started a fund to save books. That’s right. These students are raising money for their school library. They also have their own book clubs. Let’s introduce them, shall we?”
Then Holly asks all of us to say our first names. Mine sounds like this: “I’m Ruby.”
Next, she has the cameraman film our bake sale tables and the crowd. It’s pretty exciting to think that I’m on the news, even if it isn’t my best hair day.
Then Holly asks me a question. “Ruby, I heard that you started this whole thing with your book club. Can you tell me a little bit about how that came about?”
I know I was so nervous about reading my poem in front of the school that it gave me a freezing writer’s block. But when I’m talking on camera, I’m not nervous at all. I guess you could say that I’m a natural. Plus, it helps that I’m talking about my favorite thing—books.
“Well, first, I love books and reading. And then my mom had a book club so it made me think about starting one of my own. So I did, with my friends.” I point to Siri and Jessica and Daisy and Charlotte. “And then I invited other people at school to join us, and they started their own book clubs. That’s kind of the short version. The long version would take a while to tell.” I finish the last part with a grin at my dad. He gives me a thumbs-up.
“Can you tell us why you are raising money today?”
“I need a little help to answer this question because I didn’t do this by myself.” I wave my friends over to help me with this part, even Will and his friends. When everyone is all together, I continue. “Our library doesn’t have enough copies for the book clubs. Also, they have cut down the days the library is open. So we thought maybe we could do something to help.”
Holly turns to the camera now. “It’s wonderful to see so many students excited about reading. So before we close, why don’t you tell us your favorite books?”
Then she goes down the line asking the Macarons, the Polar Bears, and the Unicorns what their favorite books are. I hear lots of titles I recognize and love. I’m at the end of the line so I have time to think. Except I don’t have a favorite book because I love them all. So that’s what I say. “My favorite is usually the book I am currently reading.”
At the end, Holly tells viewers where they can send donations to our library. We thank her and then go to clean up. That’s when I realize that I still haven’t tried one of my own cupcake creations. Lucky for me, there’s still one left. So I put a dollar in the box. Then I pick up the green cupcake and take a giant bite.
I know it’s going to be amazing. I expect it to be delicious.
But I never imagined it would be this fabulous! It is:
The. Best. Cupcake. Ever!
After that, we sit in a circle on the floor and count up all the money in the metal boxes. Here is the final count: The Polar Bears, $149, and the Unicorns-Macarons, $101! That’s enough money for a bunch of new books. Maybe even eight copies of The Misfit Girls.
On the way home, Dad tells me something super-exciting. People who saw us on the news have started sending in donations for the library, so we will have enough funds to keep the library open all week long—and buy some new books! He also tells me he’s proud of me. And that’s the best thing of all.
• • •
But there is still one thing I have to do. On Sunday afternoon, I invite my family to hear my first ever epic poem. Maybe I didn’t get to read in front of the entire school, but the people that matter most to me are here: Mom, Dad, Sam, Connor, Gram, Grandpa, and of course the dogs, Abe and George. Everyone sits on the sofa and chairs in my grandparents’ living room and waits for me to read my poem out loud.
I clear my throat. “Thank you for being here. My epic poem is called ‘Searching for the Lost Book.’” Then I begin reading the words on the page. Only I forget I am reading and instead imagine myself in the poem. Here it is:
Searching for the Lost Book
BY RUBY J. STARR
From a kingdom called Melonia, a call was heard far and wide
For the bravest knights to find the lost book
It had been stolen from the king's treasure chest
And no one had seen it for a hundred years
Though many knights had searched through the land
None succeeded in finding it
Until a knight named Star arrived in the court
Though she was smaller than the other knights
And younger too
She had a secret skill that was hers alone
Imagination
With it, she could see what others could not
And succeed where others had failed
Star crossed the driest deserts where windstorms pushed and pulled
She climbed the highest snowy peaks where only hawks dared to go
She swam to the deepest oceans where sunken ships lay buried below
Until she reached a library as large as a castle and filled with books of all kinds
And readers young and old
There she found the lost book on a shelf with many others
And she understood that this is where it belonged
In a place where it could be found and read over and over again
Instead of locked away in a chest
The brave knight had traveled the world but had never known a home
Until she entered this library and met readers just like herself
So she never returned to the kingdom of Melonia
Instead, she stayed with the Lost Book
In the Library of the Found
I am Star the Knight in the Library of the Found. My journey isn’t over; instead it’s only beginning. For I am surrounded by hundreds of books and lots of readers just like me.
My family claps for me. I take a little bow, and then I can’t help myself—I have to twirl around once. It’s not the danciest of moves, but sometimes a spin is just the thing. Because I did it! I saved the library, and I wrote a real poem. I even managed to get an A although my poem was late.
At the end of every good story, the hero learns something about herself. I realized that my favorite characters didn’t save the world by themselves. I couldn’t have written the poem or saved the library alone either. I needed my family and the Unicorns and the Macarons and the Polar Bears, plus Mrs. Xia and Mrs. Sablinsky and Principal Snyder. Hey, I guess this is how those award speeches always get so long. Wait a second. I almost forget Abe and his extraordinary listening skills. I guess what I’m saying is that in order to do something really fabulous, it takes a lot of help.
Always remember: when friends read together, anything is possible!
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed Ruby’s latest adventure!
Many people have helped make this book possible so I want to say thank you because this is a dream come true for me.
Thank you to my dynamic agent Stacey Glick for being a kindred spirit, for your friendship, and for always believing in my work. My team at Sourcebooks Jabberwocky is incredible, and I am grateful to all of you for working so hard on this series. Annie Berger, my brilliant editor, many thanks for your guidance and support and for every time you laughed at one of Ruby’s jokes. Every page is better because of you. Elizabeth Boyer, thank you for making the manuscript look so good and for telling me every last-minute change was still possible! Sarah Kasman, thanks so much for your sunny emails and for all your work on the manuscript. Diane Dannenfeldt, thank you for combing through the manuscript and making it perfectly perfect. Nicole Hower, thank you for creating Ruby’s beautiful s
ignature design, and then surpassing it with this book! Jeanine Murch, thank you for seeing inside my imagination to bring Ruby’s world to the page. I am so blessed to be working with you. Katy Lynch, who has worked so hard to make sure readers meet Ruby, thank you for every email and phone call. Your counsel has been invaluable to me. Alex Yeadon, who makes even the impossible event possible somehow through her magic. I have no idea how you do it, but thank you! Steve Geck, Todd Stocke, and Dominique Raccah, thank you for making me part of the Sourcebooks family. I couldn’t imagine a better home for Ruby.
To Aubrey Poole, thank you for taking a chance on Ruby. I will forever be indebted to you.
To my friends, old and new, who have come to book signings and shared Ruby with their kids and neighbors, hugs to you. To my family, you are the best cheering team ever, and I can’t thank you enough for your enthusiastic support and your prayers. To my daughters, Ava and Caroline, this book is as much yours as mine. Thank you for reading every revision and for being with me every step of the way. And my deepest thanks to God for the many blessings I have received.
Don’t miss Ruby’s other adventures!
About the Author
Deborah Lytton writes books for middle grade and young adult readers. She is the author of Jane in Bloom and Silence. Deborah has a history degree from UCLA and a law degree from Pepperdine University. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her two daughters and their dog, Faith. For more information about Deborah, visit deborahlytton.com.
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