CCPL

Do it Yourself Book Club


Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech
Ruby Holler
by Sharon Creech

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Thirteen-year-old fraternal twins Dallas and Florida have grown up in a terrible orphanage but their lives change forever when an eccentric but sweet older couple invites them each on an adventure, beginning in an almost magical place called Ruby Holler.

Discussion

Do you think that Florida changed her outlook during the book? How?

Do you think that Florida is like Tiller and Dallas is like Sairy? Why or why not?

Which character are you most like?

The book begins with Dallas lost in a daydream. Do you ever find yourself lost in daydreams?

Florida is very mistrusting of adults, does this help her or hurt her?

Loneliness is a theme in the book. How do the different characters cope with it?

How do dreams play an important part in this story? Are you a dreamer like Dallas or a realist like Florida?

Ruby Holler has won several awards. How do you think this book compares to others you have read?

What were your first impressions of the book? Did you like the cover? Did the plot seem interesting?

Ruby Holler is described as a magical place. Would you want to live there? Why or why not?

Mr. and Mrs. Trepid liked rules and used them for everything. Do you like to follow rules or like to break the rules?

In Chapter two, the Boxton Creek Home is described as forgotten. Do you think that the twins are like the Boxton Creek Home at this point in the story?

Dallas and Florida kept getting sent back to the children's home, was itheir fault or the fault for being accident prone or the fault of the families (like the Hoppers) that they had stayed with?

At first, Florida thinks that Tiller and Sairy are old lunatics like other families they had been placed with. Was she right in her assumptions?

The twins wonder about what they will be like when they get older since they never knew their parents. Do you think you are like your parents?

Would you want parents like Tiller and Sairy?

Do you think there was any significance when Joey was saying "Who am I? Who am I?" before he died?

What are your impressions of Z? Is he a good person or a bad person or somewhere in the middle?

Activity

Make a treasure map
From Creative Kids at Home

You will need:

  • paper
  • pen
  • used tea bag
  • paper towl
  • cooking oil

What to do:

  • Think about the map you want to make. It could be a path that uses landmarks, or it could be a verse that includes directions and distances. Make sure the start is easy to find, and the treasure is hidden somewhere where it won't be disturbed until the treasure hunters find it.
  • Use a piece of white paper and draw your map. Include the compass points and any verse or written clues needed by the hunters to find the treasure. Different colored inks work fine, some pencil crayons will work too.
  • Tear the edges off the page, to make it look like a treasure map.
  • When you map is finished, wipe the wet tea bag over both sides of the page. The page will turn a light brown color. The page should be soaked through by the time you are finished.
  • Crumple it into a ball and let dry over night.
  • Gently open the map, and wipe both sides with cooking oil. Blot off the excess with paper towels.

By this point, your treasure map should look hundreds of years old! Use your map for a treasure hunt or as a list for a scavenger hunt at a children's birthday party.

Recipe

Sugar Diamonds
From Funology.com

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 3/4 cup of water
  • paper cups

Prepraration:

  • Dissolve 2 cups of sugar in 3/4 cup of boiling water. Get an adult's help with the stove!
  • Let the solution cool a little bit and pour it into drinking glasses or paper cups. Set these aside for a few weeks and watch what happens.
  • As the water evaporates, crystals begin to form out of the sugar. The longer you let the evaporation happen, the bigger the crystals you'll get.