From Sharon Creech, the Newbery Medal winning author of Walk Two Moons , comes a heartwarming adventure about finding family, and a home, when you least expect it. Ruby Holler is a Carnegie Medal-winning novel, and with its quirky protagonists and exciting journey, captures the imaginations of readers of all ages.   Brother and sister Dallas and Florida are the “trouble twins.” In their short thirteen years, they’ve passed through countless foster homes, only to return to their dreary orphanage, Boxton Creek Home. Run by the Trepids, a greedy and strict couple, Boxton Creek seems impossible to escape. When Mr. Trepid informs the twins that they’ll be helping old Tiller and Sairy Morey go on separate adventures, Dallas and Florida are suspicious. As the twins adjust to the natural beauty of the outdoors, help the Tillers prepare for their adventures, and foil a robbery, their ultimate search for freedom leads them home to Ruby Holler. Grade 4-6-Orphaned twins Dallas and Florida have resigned themselves to living within the confines of the Boxton Creek Home for Children. It's a loveless existence. The Trepids, owners and "rule enforcers" of the home, target the brother and sister at every opportunity and all of the prospective adoptive parents have returned them to the orphanage. Eventually the children are sent to act as temporary companions to an eccentric older couple who live in Ruby Holler, and there they find love and acceptance. While the plot is predictable, the story weaves in an interesting mix of mystery, adventure, and humor, along with age-old and modern problems. Creech does a fine job of developing the unique personalities and the sibling relationship, and the children's defense mechanisms (Dallas's dreamy escapism and Florida's aggression) figure prominently in the interplay among the characters. The text is lively and descriptive with an authentic, if somewhat mystical, rural ambience. This entertaining read from a first-rate author will not disappoint Creech's many fans. Robyn Ryan Vandenbroek, Elgin Court Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Gr. 4-7. Thirteen-year-old twins Dallas and Florida are continually in trouble for breaking the many rules of the Boxton Creek Home for Children. When an elderly couple, Tiller and Sairy, invite Dallas and Florida to stay with them in nearby Ruby Holler and travel with them beyond it, the twins are wary. Previous foster placements have been disasters. Tiller and Sairy, however, treat the children like their own, talking with them, teaching them, trusting them, loving them, outwitting them, and even letting them save face. In an unusual approach for a children's book, Tiller and Sairy's points of view are at least as important as those of Dallas and Florida; and how the foursome play off one another is one of the key points of the narrative. There's a larger-than-life feel to this novel that makes the minor characters and subplots feel a bit out of scale--or out of sync--but the main story rests squarely on the four well-drawn characters. A stylized yet solid story from the author of the Newbery-award-winning Walk Two Moons (1994). Carolyn Phelan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “An altogether engaging outing.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “This poignant story evokes a feeling as welcoming as fresh-baked bread.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Lively and descriptive with an authentic, rural ambience.” - School Library Journal (starred review) As they pulled onto a narrow dirt road, Sairy said, "You are now entering Ruby Holler, the one and only Ruby Holler! Your lives are never going to be the same -- " Dallas and Florida have been dubbed the "trouble twins." They have been shuffled between foster families and orphanages all their lives, longing only for a loving place to call home, though mistrustful that one exists for the likes of them. Tiller and Sairy are an eccentric, older couple whose children are grown and long gone, and they're each restless for one more big adventure while their bodies are still spry enough to paddle a river or climb a mountain. Ruby Holler is the beautiful, mysterious place that changes all of their lives forever. When Tiller and Sairy invite Dallas and Florida to stay with them and keep them company on their adventures, the magic of the Holler takes over, and the two kids begin to think that maybe, just maybe the old folks aren't so bad.... Filled with humor, poignancy, cookies, and treasure maps, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Ruby Holler is a delightful book about a special place where it's never too late to be loved. Sharon Creech has written twenty-one books for young people and is published in over twenty languages. Her books have received awards in both the U.S. and abroad, including the Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons , the Newbery Honor for The Wanderer , and Great Britain’s Carnegie Medal for Ru