Ruby Lee and the Very Big Deal by Nancy Buffington, Stephanie Mullani (Illustrator) ★★★☆☆

The value of public speaking

Fiction – children/Juvenile - contemporary

50 pages

Publication Date:  2013

Ruby Lee’s essay won first prize place and now she has to read it in front of the town.  Can Great Aunt Alice help Ruby overcome her stage fright before the big event?

This nice and age appropriate story focuses on Ruby’s fear of public speaking; a very identifiable problem, and something we all have to face at some point.  Ruby’s Great Aunt Alice clearly explains how important this skill is and gives great - useful in the real world - advice.  I loved that Ms. Buffington uses the dementia ridden Great Aunt to help out Ruby.  I think as a society we are prone to overlook the wisdom and guidance our elderly can give us and we don’t put enough emphasis on the respect they deserve.  The illustrations were good.  I loved the secret section at the end to reinforce the lessons and some back story on the cast of characters.

On the downside the writing was awkward at times and the characters tended not have much depth.  Also Ruby going from a novice to a pro seemed a bit unbelievable to me, but I understand that I’m not the intended audience and this may not be a problem for children.