Lock and Key | 
 enlarge | Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
Buy New: $10.71
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Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 1681
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 067001088X
EAN: 9780670010882
ASIN: 067001088X
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Ruby, where is your mother? Ruby knows that the game is up. For the past few months, shes been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return. Thats how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasnt seen in ten years, and Coras husband Jamie, whose down-to-earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around. A luxurious house, fancy private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a futureits a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give? Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
A touching, heartfelt novel July 24, 2008
Ruby can't wait until she turns 18. Instead of yearning for independence, she is looking forward to the day when she legally will be considered an adult so no one will be able to put her in foster care. Her mother left a few months ago, and she has been living alone, trying to work and finish high school.
Ruby thought she was managing just fine on her own. She worked at an airport returning lost luggage to its owners, was pulling high enough grades to stay under the radar of administrators, and had a friend with benefits. True, her house had plumbing trouble, and the washer and dryer broke, forcing her to hang clothes in the kitchen to dry. But she believed she could make it a few more months. When instead she is found living in the hovel her house had become, she is pulled out by state services and sent to live with her sister Cora.
Cora has not been a part of Ruby's life for a number of years. She left Ruby and her erratic mother for college, and Ruby had not heard from her since, except to receive a notice that she graduated. Her husband Jamie is a famous businessman who designed the hugely popular social networking website that everyone uses. Ruby finds it hard to fathom that the nice easygoing guy who obsesses over his new backyard fish pond is a multimillionaire, or that her sister is an attorney who wants to have a baby. And she can't believe that she is now living in their house as they play the role of parents.
Ruby's new school, which is on the other side of town from her old one, may as well be on another planet. Where before Ruby regularly smoked pot and just wanted to finish classes, now she has counselors advising her to apply to college. She becomes friends with Nate, the handsome jock living behind her, and is actually envied by other girls because they go to school every day together and hang out. She gets a job at the mall assisting a neurotic jewelry designer and helps start a high-selling trend in necklaces. Ruby finds herself drawn to all these new people and getting involved in their lives in a way she has never done with others before. Her mother was always moving them on when money ran out, or hiding them away, so she never had friends she could trust or who trusted her.
Nate quickly becomes even more important, and as they grow closer, Ruby realizes that his life is almost as troubled as hers used to be. Helping someone else when she herself refused assistance from others for so long is a completely alien concept to her, and she is not sure when and how to begin. But she does recognize that she is no longer comfortable staying in the background of life.
Sarah Dessen knows the key to emotions --- as is displayed in LOCK AND KEY and earlier notable titles such as SOMEONE LIKE YOU and THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER --- and is skilled at showing hope and promise in situations that seem without both. Even if readers are not dealing with the same issues as Ruby, her feelings will resonate. Problems with friends and family are not unusual, and Ruby's constant doubts and mistakes are not limited to her situation either. It's easy to care about Ruby, her also-troubled sister Cora and quirky husband Jamie as they fumble trying to build a home together and sort out past conflicts.
While writing about Ruby's broken home and its resulting problems, Dessen also shows how a seemingly well-to-do father and son in a fancy neighborhood are handling their own perilous situation. No character is without obstacles to overcome, yet Ruby finds that giving part of herself only strengthens her as a person in this multilayered novel.
--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio
 outstanding book July 13, 2008
i really enjoyed this story. the characters seemed so real. it was very enjoyable. i would recomend it for those who want a little bit of every genre. the romance is powerful, but not too much. it was a fantastic read. i rarely enjoy book endings, but this one closed perfectly. once again it was amazing.
18549654 July 2, 2008
Wow, is one word to describe Sarah's new book! I loved it and couldn't put it down! Ruby's story was so real and I couldn't help but picture Nate! This book is highly recommended by me and others so you should definetely add this book to your library for a great read! I am looking forward for more books of hers to come!
Another Great Book by Dessen June 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Dessen has done it again! I loved this book, never wanting to put it down. It's about Ruby who lived with her mom in a yellow farmhouse when one day Ruby's mom just never comes back. Sort of "runs away". Ruby stays there, not telling anyone that her moms gone, waiting out the months until she turns 18. But then the landlords bust her and she is sent to live with her sister, Cora, who left her and her mother when she went to college. It pretty much centers around Nate, her neighbor and her realtionship with Cora. I loved it! It really was sad seeing how mislead everyone was. I also loved how Rogerson was included in the book and Kiki Sparks! I love how Dessen does that. I haven't read all of Dessen's books but out of the ones I have read this is my favorite!
A really enjoyable novel, but a main character I couldn't relate to. June 22, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I loved this story overall. It had really good traits, and aspects, and the main idea behind it was rather enjoyable, as are all of Dessen's plots. I'd definitely recommend this to others.
My only problem with this story, as well as a couple of her other novels, is how sexually promiscuous the main characters always seem to be =/. Or, at the very least...how..well, not 'loose' but ...the manner in which many of the female characters in her novels don't hold any morality (or, for some, dont' really care at all about it) as far as having sex at such a young age goes.
It'd be nice if such were otherwise - considering how quickly morality in today's society is disappearing. Girls, especially 'young adult' females reading novels today, need something to look up to other than a lack of modesty. That's my only issue with this novel.
I'll admit, however, Dessen's ability to present sexual scenes (not kissing or loving scenes, but... scenes with actual sex being hinted at) without being at all graphic is quite relieving. And I commend her for such. That's another reason why her stories are so enjoyable - things like that don't obstruct the reader's path towards the story's main idea. Once more, I liked this story, and think it deserves 4 stars, at the very least.
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