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J.P. STERLING
Age Range: 12 and up
Ruby in the Water is an excellent story about a mother and her boy. Peter Arnold is a seventeen-year-old musical prodigy who has been going on tour since he was five. Playing the piano, to Peter, is like breathing, but when his kidneys fail during a performance and Peter goes into a coma, his family wonders if his days of playing are over. While in his coma, his mother, father, and himself have flashbacks of when he was a small kindergartener. The story mostly follows the mom's point of view and her relationship with her precious son, and the difficulties they have together. Peter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was a baby and had some emotional issues that make it very hard for others to be around him. So when he finds the piano, everyone is amazed at his patience and extraordinary talent. When a mysterious woman who lives behind the church tells Peter a secret, his life changes in a way he never thought possible.
I received a complimentary copy of Ruby in the Water from J.P. Sterling, but my review of her book is entirely my own. This was a great novel that dealt a lot with family relationships, disabilities, and pro-life messages. The beginning of Ruby in the Water was a little slow, but it got a lot better the farther in you go, and the ending was unexpected and amazingly interesting. Most of the book is told from the mom's point of view when Peter was a kindergartener and his difficulties with his disabilities. But then Peter finds his love of the piano, and his talents are found by a slightly weird musician who helps him with a new career. I thought it was interesting that the book was told mostly in flashbacks instead of the standard way of moving with the story as if it's happening right now. I would say that Ruby in the Water was a Catholic book even though it was not mentioned a lot. The family goes to church on Sundays and has great faith in God. All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and so did my brother Michael, and I hope you do too!
Things to mention: The book is spotless until the end where it starts to deal a lot with pro-life and abortion issues. I don't want to give away too much of the book, but a baby was aborted and saved. There are no details about the abortion, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
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