J Short Chapter Look

I want to be friends with Ruby Lu! She is spunky, knows magic tricks, and is determined to follow all of the goals in her 12 step summer plan (some of which include "hold breth while in swimming skool" and "play with flying duck"). Ruby Lu is a second grader who likes "different" and "weird", but she doesn't like "having her life turned upside down", which is exactly how she feels when her cousin, Flying Duck, arrives with her family from China to live with Ruby Lu's family until they can adjust to life in the United States.
At first though, Ruby was anxious to help Flying Duck and was assigned to be her "Smile Buddy" at school. It turns out, however, that, despite being deaf and not speaking English, Flying Duck has no trouble adjusting to life, and is even a top notch swimmer. Unfortunately, Ruby was so overwhelmed by her role as a "Smile Buddy", that her own school work suffers so much that both she and her cousin must attend summer school for extra practice. Ruby Lu also experiences the trauma of a letter home pinned to her shirt (which she later removes and puts in her backpack until the end of the summer), getting glasses, experiencing a fight to defend her "alien" cousin, and scary swimming lessons. There are great illustrations throughout this book that make readers smile and laugh along with Ruby.
Ruby Lu is a typical kid. Through her eyes, readers experience the joys of childhood, including on again/off again best friends, the good feelings of helping others, the excitement of overcoming fears, and the joy of learning new things. Read the book to have fun and see how many of Ruby's 12 steps she accomplished.
Extra neat-o features at the end are "Ruby's Amazing Glossary and Guide to Important Words" and "Flying Duck's Awesome Glossary and Guide to Important Chinese Sign Language Signs (as demonstrated by Ruby)".