Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes

Gr 4–8—Child's newest character is actually an old fictional favorite of her previous protagonist Clarice Bean (Clarice Bean, That's Me, Orchard, 2014). In this first adventure, 13-year-old Ruby Redford, a genius code-breaker with Sherlock Holmes-like observational skills, finds herself unwillingly working for the international spy agency Spectrum after the entire contents of her house are stolen. With her best friend, Clancy Crew, no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs. Digby, and svelte butler/undercover Spectrum agent Hitch, wise-cracking Ruby may just solve the case and, with the help of some spectacular gadgets, even save the world. Rachael Stirling brings to life the dry-witted, sometimes snarky heroine, but listeners may either love Clancy's nasal whine or find it appropriately annoying. Some of the code-breaking challenges are made more difficult without the accompanying images, but those can be found on the website rubyredfort.com.