Title: The ruby in the smoke / Philip Pullman.
Publisher: Knopf, p2008, c1985
Original ISBN-13: 978-0-375-84516-1
Interest/Reading Level: YA/6.5
Book Summary:
Poor orphaned Sally is left with the mysteries surrounding her father's death at sea and the difficulties of living with an aunt who blatantly dislikes her. If feeling like an destitute and unwanted charity case was not trouble enough, Sally soon finds that there are people who desperately want her dead. Nightmares haunt Sally's sleep of murderous images from when she was a child. With the help of a shipping clerk, an actress, and a photographer, Sally learns that a ruby, opium, and murder not only stalk her present but are the keys to her past!
Poor orphaned Sally is left with the mysteries surrounding her father's death at sea and the difficulties of living with an aunt who blatantly dislikes her. If feeling like an destitute and unwanted charity case was not trouble enough, Sally soon finds that there are people who desperately want her dead. Nightmares haunt Sally's sleep of murderous images from when she was a child. With the help of a shipping clerk, an actress, and a photographer, Sally learns that a ruby, opium, and murder not only stalk her present but are the keys to her past!
My Thoughts:
I shall not tell a lie, other than Nancy Drew as a child, I have never read a mystery novel. While Miss Drew was interesting, she was not enough to ever hook me on the genre. However, I must admit that darling Sally has completely won me over and I just can't seem to get enough of her story! It was interesting to see the implementing of a modern feminist perspective, the intelligent wanting-to-work Sally and Bohemian lifestyle of her friends, while still giving Sally a soft likable personality. Pullman artfully entwines murder, mystery, and humor. I found myself looking more forward to the antics of the Sally's friends than I did solving the mystery. The language is fairly difficult not only encompassing a different time period but dialects as well. However, this will not stop an avid reader who loves mysteries!
I shall not tell a lie, other than Nancy Drew as a child, I have never read a mystery novel. While Miss Drew was interesting, she was not enough to ever hook me on the genre. However, I must admit that darling Sally has completely won me over and I just can't seem to get enough of her story! It was interesting to see the implementing of a modern feminist perspective, the intelligent wanting-to-work Sally and Bohemian lifestyle of her friends, while still giving Sally a soft likable personality. Pullman artfully entwines murder, mystery, and humor. I found myself looking more forward to the antics of the Sally's friends than I did solving the mystery. The language is fairly difficult not only encompassing a different time period but dialects as well. However, this will not stop an avid reader who loves mysteries!
Library Toolbox of Tips and Tricks:
This is the perfect book to introduce characterization, inference, and deduction. Read the first 20-27 pages in the library to help kick off this book for teachers to use. Have students
1. Look at the front cover and reflect on the font,
title, and images. Deduce what they think will
happen in the story.
2. Work in pairs to create a character 'who's who' by
listing all the characters that were introduced,
who they are, and how that character hooked the
student into wanting to read more.
1. Look at the front cover and reflect on the font,
title, and images. Deduce what they think will
happen in the story.
2. Work in pairs to create a character 'who's who' by
listing all the characters that were introduced,
who they are, and how that character hooked the
student into wanting to read more.
References:
Image The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart Mystery) [cover image].
Retrieved from: http://www.titlewave.com/cover?FLR=0408MC8&
SID=194a0098d7b19514b1c4a33cbae593d5&type=cover
Jones, T. [Review of the book Ruby in the Smoke by P. Pullman]. (1987, April).
School Library Journal, 33(8), 112.
Retrieved from: http://www.titlewave.com/cover?FLR=0408MC8&
SID=194a0098d7b19514b1c4a33cbae593d5&type=cover
Jones, T. [Review of the book Ruby in the Smoke by P. Pullman]. (1987, April).
School Library Journal, 33(8), 112.
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