“You know it’s there, even though we can’t see it,” I said as her eyes met mine.
“I know, Ruby Moon,” she said. “I know.”
Bob barked and Mom let the seeds fall onto the ground.
“Something for the squirrels,” I said.
Mom put her arm around me and as we stepped inside to have tea with Abigail, I knew we had finally found our way home.
AUTHOR’S NOTE ON FICTIONAL LUNAR ECLIPSES IN THIS STORY
As Abigail Jacobs said, Ruby moons are very real. But rare. They only happen during a total lunar eclipse.
Ruby moons—or blood moons, as they are often called—are very real. However, the one that takes place in Ruby’s story is fictional. There has not been a total lunar eclipse on Valentine’s Day in recent history.
Nevertheless, Ruby moons do happen and are even more magical to experience in person. To learn more about lunar eclipses, and to find out when the next total lunar eclipse will be visible from where you live, please check out the following resources:
The NASA Eclipse website includes a catalog of lunar eclipses through 2100:
eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE2001-2100.html.
A great source for learning about lunar eclipses is maintained by Fred Espenak, aka Mr. Eclipse, a retired astrophysicist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. It can be found at:
mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html.
A wonderfully technical book filled with diagrams, maps, and data, also by Espenak, is: Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500, Portal, AZ: Astropixels, 2014.
Finally, if you wish to learn more about astronaut Michael Collins, please check out his autobiography:
• Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut’s Story, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994.
Other books about Michael Collins include:
• The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins, by Bea Uusma Schyffert, San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003.
• The Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11’s Third Man, by Alex Irvine, illustrated by Ben Bishop, Thomaston, ME: Tilbury House, 2017.
Enjoy watching the next lunar eclipse—I look forward to seeing you there!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
While writing Ruby in the Sky, I found myself on a journey that turned out to be as bumpy and steep as Ruby’s trip to Vermont. I could not—and definitely would not have wanted to—take this crazy ride alone. I’d like to thank everyone who supported me along the way.
First of all, special thanks to:
• Janine O’Malley, Melissa Warten, and the whole team at Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers. Thank you for loving Ruby as much as I do.
• My agent, Stacey Glick, of Dystel, Goderich and Bourret. Thank you for hearing Ruby loud and clear and wanting to share her strong voice with the world.
One of the most phenomenal aspects of the world of children’s literature is the unwaveringly selfless manner in which this community shares its time and talent. Thank you to:
• Patricia Reilly Giff—as I sat in your Sunday morning classes, I often pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming … I’m still not so sure. Thank you for sharing your timeless experience and infinite talent. Your students remain forever grateful.
• Stephen Roxburgh and Carolyn Coman—a couple who have been known to brave hurricanes in order to help aspiring authors. Abigail thanks you for getting her out of the chicken coop. I thank you for teaching me how to write a novel.
• My Pitch Wars mentors, Laura Shovan and Tricia Clasen, for helping me hear Ruby’s voice, understand her truth, and tell her story in the way she wanted all along. Team TLC rocks! Thank you to Brenda Drake for creating Pitch Wars. I hope that one day I can give back to this amazing community a fraction of what you all have given to me.
• Bette Anne Rieth—you are my literary rock. You know, if you moved to the moon, I’d follow you there. Thank you for everything. Onward!
• Lynda Mullaly Hunt—whose talent is surpassed only by her generosity. Lynda, you are an inspiration to me in every way. This book simply would not exist without you.
Thank you to everyone who read early versions of Ruby and gave me encouraging feedback that made for a stronger story:
• Rachel Galligan, Ellie Galligan, Margaret Morrison, Maureen McInerney, Grace McInerney, Maryann Bastian, Nwal Sara, Anita Overgaard, Ann Morency, Kate Lynch, Mary Pierce, Sarah Albee, Lisa Rosenman, Beverly McRory, Thomas Ferruolo, Mary Ferruolo, Sue Ferruolo, Sophia Ferruolo, Andrew Ferruolo, Kimi Moretti, Les Moretti, Bryce Moretti, Trevor Moretti, Karen Zulick, and Olivia Zulick.
• Special thanks to Nora Brown for naming her goldfish Bob Van Doodle.
Thank you to the following friends who were willing to answer my endless questions in order to make this fictional story tell the truth:
• Dr. Suleiman and Lona Zalatimo, Sara Metz, Nour Shraiki, Huda Shraiki, Mahmood Mahmood, Bahaa Al-Tamimi, Maryam Kazadi, Drisyle Kazadi, Consolata Ndayishimiye, and Hilla Nasruddin. Thank you for sharing your unique experiences and expertise.
• Kathryn Fitzgerald and her students at Windermere School in Ellington, Connecticut, who made me feel like a real author before I was one. Thank you for your expert feedback on all things “sixth grade.”
• The attorneys, social workers, investigators, and staff of public defender offices throughout the United States. Every day, public defenders bravely, passionately, and tirelessly lend their voices to those in greatest need. Thank you, especially, to the attorneys in Vermont and Connecticut whom I consulted about Dahlia’s case. Any literary liberties taken with the law and court procedure rest solely with me.
• Ashley Makar and Ann O’Brien of IRIS—Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven, Connecticut (irisct.org). There is no better symbol of what our country stands for than the work you do. Thank you for welcoming refugees into our country and me into your community.
It is easy for writers to become discouraged. The path to publication can be lonely, leaving plenty of opportunities for self-doubt to creep in. Thank you to the SCBWI Work-In-Progress, PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery, NESCBWI Ruth Landers Glass Scholarship, and New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Award committees for honoring Ruby in the Sky with your recognitions. The important work you do inspires writers to keep going and improve their craft, and puts important books into the hands of the kids who need them. I am humbled by and grateful for your support.
As with any important journey, there are detours and obstacles along the way. I can’t think about Ruby’s struggles without remembering my own. Much of this book was written and revised as I recovered from chemotherapy to treat breast cancer, and again, later, as I recuperated from two surgeries to remove a rare sarcoma. Without the help, love, and support of so many friends and family, Ruby’s voice would have been forever muted. Thank you to everyone who sent love in the form of prayers, cards, and visits. I want to especially thank Sue Ferruolo and Deb Zulick, who remained by my side through some less-than-fun hospital stays. A special thank-you to the amazing doctors and nurses at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, especially Erin Wysong Hofstatter, MD; Gineesha Abraham, APRN; Anees Chagpar, MD; John W. Colberg, MD; and Elena Ratner, MD. It was under your care that Ruby found her voice and I regained mine.
Finally, no one is luckier than me to be part of the family I’ve been blessed with. A heart-shaped thank-you to:
• My husband, Paul—who introduced me to the wonder of snowshoe hikes at dawn—and to our amazing children, Andrew and Sophia. You are my sun and moon and stars.
• The Ferruolos, especially our patriarch, John A. Ferruolo—whose heart is larger than the moon itself and who, with Beverly McRory, shows us every day that family = love. I am so proud to be part of your clan.
• My parents, Barbara and John Zulick, and my siblings, Robert Zulick, Deborah Zulick, and Sarah Zulick Sardo. Our farm in Ashford, Connect
icut, provided just the right soil to grow beautiful stories. Thank you, Dad, for showing me the magic in handfeeding chickadees. Even though you are no longer with us on Earth, I know I can always find you on the moon. Last, but most definitely not least: Mom, you are the glue that holds my world together. This book—this dream—is all because of you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo lives in Ellington, Connecticut, with her husband and children. Ruby in the Sky is her first novel, and it won the SCBWI Work-in-Progress Award, the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award, and the New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Award. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Author’s Note on Fictional Lunar Eclipses in This Story
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Copyright © 2019 by Jeanne M. Zulick
All rights reserved
First hardcover edition, 2019
eBook edition, February 2019
mackids.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ferruolo, Jeanne Zulick, author.
Title: Ruby in the sky / Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo.
Description: First edition. | New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2019. | Summary: When Ruby Moon Hayes, twelve, and her mother move to tiny Fortin, Vermont, Ruby is surprised to make friends at school and in the neighborhood, where a reclusive lady hides a huge secret.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018008121 | ISBN 9780374309053 (hardcover)
Subjects: | CYAC: Friendship—Fiction. | Single-parent families—Fiction. | Moving, Household—Fiction. | Middle schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Recluses—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.F4697 Rub 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008121
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at [email protected].
eISBN 9780374309077
Ruby in the Sky Page 17