Riddle In Ruby

Unsolicited quarantine book report #11. A RIDDLE IN RUBY BOOK 1 by KENT DAVIS, 2015. GREENWILLOW BOOKS, 425 PAGES.

I'm not what you'd call a 'regular' in the Young Adult genre. After vanquishing the postmodern turnbuckle of Infinite Jest, I read Kurt Vonnegut's personal favorite of his own works, The Sirens of Titan in a weekend. It wasn't MY favorite of his numerous masterpieces, though it did feature the familiar themes of prophesied arrivals of half-wit chosen ones (Happy Easter!), space & time travel, and farmed sex in space.

Richard Bach's timeless Jonathon Livingston Seagull is only 10,000 words and is easily read in an evening. Should be, incidentally. If you haven't read JLS since college, give it a quick flip. Solid pandemic messaging right there.

Montana-based Davis has forged a heroine for the Now in his Riddle trilogy. Ruby Teach is part pirate, part alchemist, and all dreamer-- a reluctant, lock-picking, shape-shifting teenaged messiah (Happy Easter!) bent on the Right Things, no matter the costs. Set in 18th Century Colonial America, the novel finds the protagonist hastily cast with a small crew of similarly green bravehearts, on the run from Tinkers and Her Majesty's Royal Navy alike. Clowns to the left of her, jokers to the right. Seemingly everyone the scrappy young fugitives encounter has been expecting them. Ruby knows or has or is something that everyone is keen to commandeer. It would be simpler for her if she herself knew exactly what it was. But she's just learning, too...

From Peter Antonsson's swashbuckling cover art through to the last twist, A Riddle in Ruby is thrilling adventure story packed carefully with plenty of modern day relevance. Gender identity, social equity and a seemingly endless series of moral gutchecks lurk in every darkened iron doorway and up every winding stone staircase. A great read for young seekers or old geezers alike. Can't wait to get started on Book II. YAAF!