Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Dallas and Florida have been at the Boxton Creek Home for years—their whole lives, in fact. The few families they’d been placed into had hauled them back within a few days. “‘Trouble twins,’ these exasperated adults would say. ‘Nothing but trouble.’” Under Mr. and Mrs. Trepid’s plethora of rules, quiet, imaginative Dallas and wild, fiery Florida have learned not to trust anyone, especially adults.

When sixty-year-old Tiller and his wife Sairy come looking for assistants on their respective journeys, the trouble twins are yanked from the cruel monotony they had always known into a much kinder, gentler world. As they struggle to adjust to life with Tiller and Sairy, they make mistakes and learn from them. But then trouble of another kind arises in Mr. Trepid himself. Can Dallas and Florida, along with their new family, thwart the orphanage’s cruel owner’s schemes once and for all? 

Ruby Holler is a wonderful, imaginative story carefully crafted in the hands of an expert author. Sharon Creech weaves vibrant characters that seem to leap off the page. She keeps readers turning page after page, immersed in the story. I, for one, found myself disappointed when the story ended, the message lingering with me long after I had turned the last page. It was an altogether captivating read. I would recommend Ruby Holler to anyone who enjoyed The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney.