Lock and Key | 
 enlarge | Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
Buy New: $10.59
You Save: $8.40 (44%)
New (33) Used (16) Collectible (4) from $8.10
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 611
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
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081130225628T
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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 48 more reviews...
 Not at all what I was expecting. November 22, 2008
Whenever Ms. Dessen writes a story of this length, it is tradition that it is a witty, yet touching love story. This time however, the two characters never really find their happily-ever-after, and the whole reason I read this book as because of that. It was a disappointing and altogether unsatisfactory story. Not up to her usual standards at all.
 fails to deliver November 11, 2008
i tryed to get into the book but couldnt. i mean it was bla, nothing really to rave about or complain either. i felt like she was making Ruby more tough then she should be. it was all just prdictable and a waste really. its one of those books you think you know whats going to happen and Oh look it happened. i didnt buy anything she was feeding in the book.
Abrupt Ending November 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ruby and her mother always had a dysfunctional relationship. Her mother was an alcoholic and they spent much of their time moving from place to place, one crummy apartment after the other. Suddenly, though, Ruby's mother is gone.
Ruby is seventeen and certain she can take care of herself, but the landlords who realize she is by herself and the social worker who puts her into the state's care think differently.
Almost before she knows it, Ruby is living in a gorgeous mansion, attending a pricey private school, and trying to deal with her new guardians--her sister Cora, ten years older than Ruby, whom Ruby hasn't seen or heard from since she left for college ten years earlier, and Jamie, Cora's friendly and easygoing husband.
Things are strained, and Ruby considers taking off, but then thinks she might be able to tough out the year, instead. Soon enough she finds herself with connections she never wanted--obligations to her sister and brother-in-law, a couple of friends at school, and a neighbor who refuses to be chased away by her unpleasantness.
Can Ruby adjust to a life where she is not on her own, where she must depend on other people and have them depend on her as well?
I liked Ruby's character and the backstory that made her character seem plausible. Her transition from her old life to her new life was an intriguing one, and I was hopeful she would adjust to it. However, it seemed unrealistic that Cora's big revelation about their mother would have taken so long to come out, or that Cora would be unaware of the level of their mother's manipulation. The ending of this story was also rather abrupt, with a few paragraphs tacked on to tell what everyone was up to after the story ended. This ending seemed a bit forced.
WARNING October 27, 2008
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
WARNING: THERE IS LANGUAGE IN THIS BOOK! All through the book.
The book was ok though. It probably would have been really great, if it didn't have the language. I would give it 4 or 5 stars if it didn't have the language. The story was something good and fresh. The writing was excellent. You thought all of the characters were real! I do like Sarah Dessen as a author, but IMO she DOESN'T NEED TO ADD LANGUAGE IN A BOOK. Her books are GREAT! No need to add stuff like that.
For EVERYONE WHO IS LOOKING TO READ THIS BOOK. I WOULD PROBABLY SAY NO AND JUST MOVE ON. NO NEED TO READ STUFF LIKE THIS.
Boring September 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ruby is an abandoned girl. Here mother was an alcoholic and disappeared one day. She tried to live alone, as she was very independent and had learned from life not to trust anyone. But the social worker caught up with her and Ruby is forced to live with her sister, Cora and her husband Jamie.
All of a sudden she is thrown into an exclusive small prep school (from a large public school) and make new friends. She was planning to escape, she carried her home key on a chain--so that she would not lose it--and tries to escape the first night in her new environment.
She meets Nate, as she tries to escape and he helps her and talks her out of it.
Slowly she starts to fit in school and make friends. She gets a part time job in the mall with Harriet--a workaholic who is courted by Reggie.
Thanks to Jamie--who is an eternal optimist, and finally Cora, Ruby works out her problems.
Harriet ends up making a fortune out of a chain-with-key jewelry.
Ruby also helps fix her friends and with the help of Gervais--a small genius--she even passes Calculus and gets into college.
By the end, Ruby ends up saving Nate and in a way to complete the metaphor, passes her chain from her neck to Nate.
The book is corny, the characters don't work, and there is absolutely no suspense. I understand it was written for teenage girls, so don't expect much from it.
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