Ruby Redfort Take Your Last Breath

June 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-What do asteroids, sharks, and buried treasure have in common? They are all part of a day's work for a Spectrum agent-in-training. As a 13-year-old secret agent, Ruby Redfort balances school, the swim team, and solving crimes and mysteries. When dolphins start showing up in the harbor, strange sounds are heard in the ocean, and cargo shipments go missing, Spectrum has Ruby all over the case. With the help of her sidekick/butler, Hitch, and her best friend, Clancy, she soon discovers that someone is after the legendary treasure out at sea. Ruby is a smart, feisty, and definitely fun character who easily pulls readers into this fast-paced mystery. There are a variety of secret codes throughout the book that readers can have a go at in the concluding section. While this is the second title in the series, it can definitely stand alone, although readers will surely want to read more about this spunky character's adventures.-Kerry Roeder, Professional Children's School, New York City

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2013
Thirteen-year-old secret agent Ruby Redfort (Look Into My Eyes, 2012) barely has a week to breathe before finding herself in the middle of another dastardly evil plan--oh, there are also pirates, a sea monster, a mysterious stranger and a lost treasure, too. This retro spy adventure opens with a series of strange marine disturbances. Coast Guard signals are scrambled, all the fish are gone, and there is a whispering sound coming from the ocean. Plus, one of the divers from Spectrum, the supersecret spy agency where Ruby trains, has washed ashore, dead. To add to the ever-evolving, sometimes belabored plot, the boat that Ruby's parents are on is attacked by pirates, leaving both Sabina and Brant Redfort missing at sea. All of the subplots are ocean-related, but readers (and Ruby) don't know how they are connected until Count von Viscount, the villain from the first volume, shows up briefly--his manifest evil nature enough to tie everything together. Child's cliffhanger chapter endings help the pace tremendously, and the codes (musical and binary) that Ruby deciphers are great fun. But thrilling and edge-of-your-seat adventure? That seems to be the territory of other literary spies, despite a cover that oozes intrigue. A harmless, middle-grade mystery for budding sleuths. (Mystery. 9-14)

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July 1, 2013
In her second adventure, child genius Ruby Redfort has become a full-time spy for the Spectrum and must solve a mystery involving marine animals, coded radio signals, and a legendary shipwreck. While many of the characters read like comic-book heroes and villains, Child's writing is consistently humorous and fast-paced. Includes author's notes on historic spy codes.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)