Ruby Unscripted by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pub.Date: May 5th 2009
Age Range: age 12 and up
Pages: 256
Format: paperback
Source Of Copy: from the publisher - Thomas Nelson

Sometimes the best moments in a girl's life are the unscripted ones.

Ruby Madden moves to an affluent town in Marin County, California, believing her dreams are coming true, but her hometown life is drawing her back. Her not-so-secret crush finally likes her. Her older brother decides to stay behind with their newly remarried father. And her best friend gets a boyfriend who's all wrong for her.

And Ruby's new life isn't as easy as she envisioned. Marin High School is a place for the rich and famous with their BMWs, chic clothes, and liberal beliefs-a place where she clearly doesn't belong. Even with her new job at the Underground Coffeehouse & Cinema, she is unsure of how to act and feels insecure about who she is.

When she tries out for an amateur film group, the puzzle pieces finally begin to fit. And who is this mysterious guy who's messing with her heart?


A slow paced written book with a nice message but sort of fails to deliver.

Ruby Unscripted tells a story about a teenager who has to move to a new home and face lots of challenges in her life because of a sudden chance. The plot is indeed typical with little things added and new situations created, it's somehow interesting to me.

The good thing about the book is that it portrays really well the difficulties and the feeling of a girl who finds it hard to leave everything behind her and adapt to the new world. Also, the frustration of her parents' divorce blends naturally into the rest and make her life complicated as it is. The development of Ruby Unscripted is nice and the film-making part will as well attract readers.

In my opinion, the reason Ruby Unscripted cannot shine is that it portrays daily life issues, but it lacks the charm to make everything feel realistic so people can relate to it. At some points I feel like the story just goes on and on with no end and I have to skip a lot of parts. There's no climax at all and the characters are not very significant either. Ruby acts selfish and her actions don't make sense sometimes. Kaden is mentioned in the synopsis as a large contribution to the story but actually he doesn't. The only one that makes a good impression on me is Frankie, only.

Bottom line: an okay book, suitable for those who wants to kill time.

Rating: 2.5/5