Anna Lawrence Pietroni

Ruby's Spoon Anna Lawrence Pietroni

In 1933, Ruby Abel Tailor is 13 years old, growing up in the town of Cradle Cross, in the heart of England's coal-dusted Black Country. Ruby lives with her grandmother, works at a chip shop, and dreams of running away. One day, a mysterious stranger arrives: elegant, white-haired Isa Fly, who has come to town to fulfill her dying father's request that she find a long-lost half-sister. Eccentric Isa quickly draws the scorn of the townspeople, especially after she and Ruby befriend the owner of the town's main industry, Blick's Button Factory. As Blick's tips into a steep financial decline, prized possessions all over town go missing, and Ruby questions Isa's motives.