Ruby Between the Cracks: A Free Gritty Contemporary YA/Teen Novel

Winner of the 2016 In the Margins Top Ten Best Books for Teens award.

If you asked Ruby, she'd tell you she's happy with her life. She's tough and independent and doesn't depend on anyone else. The road that has led her here has not been easy, and she's blocked a lot of it from her memory.

But things aren't as rosy as she would have everyone believe, and the road ahead of her is filled not only with gangs, drugs, and depression, but other challenges that Ruby hasn't even imagined.

—You know it’s a great book when you have to keep reminding yourself that the characters are not real people. I really cared about Ruby, and she gave me some bad moments. I desperately hoped her story would have a happy ending.

— "Ruby" exposes the complex and brutal relationship between mental illness, poverty and abuse … a page turner I had to finish

— “Ruby" really put me through the wringer and I actually had to put it down a few times because I needed to return to reality … There was no chance I was going to stop reading until I knew how the story ended! … I seriously can't wait for book two! 

Keywords: ya novel, teen books, young adult, gangs, drug addiction, mental health, homelessness in america, personal transformations, pivot tv, secret lives of americans, friendship, suicide, substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, depression, foster care, social issues, family live, self-esteem, independence, troubled teens, law and crime, pregnancy, abortion