Kids into Books: Ruby Red

Author:Henrietta Branford

Illustrator: John Lupton

Publisher: HarperCollins, $12.95

Age Group: 8+ years

Ruby sat in the apple tree waiting for night to fall. It was midsummer's evening and the garden was quiet. Only the little River Weedwater still sang softly.

Three black rooks swung home across the sky. The Gargoyle watched them from his place above the door. He wished that he could fly.

The Gargoyle was Ruby's oldest friend. He had been down under the bright flow of the Weedwater for a hundred years when Ruby found him. She shook the caddis flies out of his ears, washed off the milfoil and carried him home. She fetched her ladder and her toolbox and fixed him to the wall next to a clock she'd found the week before.

Just at first, he felt kind of pointless up there.