Ruby Unscripted

by Cindy Martinusen Coloma

Ruby's finding out that life is all about improv . . . Small-town girl Ruby Madden has moved to Marin County, California; home of high-dollar homes and green living. The girls wear shoes that cost more than her entire paycheck at the Underground Coffeehouse & Theater, and the students are well-traveled and full of life experiences that Ruby can only dream of. All the stresses of adjusting to her new life have put a strain on her ability to trust God. Yet when mysterious and eye-catching Kaden invites Ruby to join the school's film group, the puzzle pieces start to fit. Her love of art finds perfect expression and the film friends seem to really get her. When a major Hollywood director hosts an amateur film contest, Ruby and her friends are stoked. But Ruby's old life is tugging her backward and her frantic balancing act throws her new life totally off track. To top things off, Ruby makes a mistake that could cost her the chance of a lifetime. Life would be so much easier if Ruby just had a script to follow with a happy ending guaranteed. But what's the fun in that?

Genres: Young Adult, Christian, Christian Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Contemporary

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2009

About the author

Cindy Coloma is a national bestselling author who has written twelve novels, including: Beautiful (2010 Christy Award finalist for Young Adults and 2011 Revolve Young Adult Tour featured book); The Salt Garden (one of Library Journal's best genre books in 2004); Song of the Brokenhearted (2013 ECPA bestseller with coauthor Sheila Walsh); Orchid House (2008 ECPA bestseller); and Winter Passing (2001 Christy Award finalist and Romantic Times Top Pick).


Cindy has collaborated on fiction projects with bestselling author, singer, and speaker Sheila Walsh, and as a ghostwriter with a former federal prosecutor and national TV legal-news analyst.


Her nonfiction projects include collaborations on memoirs such as The Waiting (May 2014, Tyndale Momentum) and It's a Wild Life: How My Life Became a Zoo(June 2014, Medallion Press), a book about an exotic animal zoo in Michigan and the Nat Geo Wild television program. Cindy developed and wrote the nonfiction book Renting Lacy: A Story of America's Prostituted Children (coauthored with former Congresswoman Linda Smith) and has also written over one hundred published articles.


Cindy is a speaker, book doctor, and writing coach. Her writing coach clients have included both aspiring and professional writers. She tailors her programs to meet their individual needs and goals.


She's spoken at such events and conferences as the World Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany; Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference; Simpson University Faculty Retreat; LittWorld in Tagaytay, Philippines; and many others. In her local area, she has co-led a writer's group for seventeen years.


With five children ranging in age from their early twenties to a baby boy, Cindy's life is always full of laughter, joy, and toys to trip over. She can't own enough books or watch enough movies, has more travel dreams than possible for a human (including underwater and outer-space itineraries), but loves home best of all. She and her extended family have lived in the Redding, California area for over thirty-five years. a with her husband and four children

Reviews

[Jennifer Fluegge · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I didn't realize, somehow, that this was a young adult book when I bought it...but I read it anyways. It's an okay read..but I was rather disturbed by her treatment of a homosexual character in the book, basically chastising Christians who speak out against such sin. Also disturbed that this same character was the friend of the main character with no condemnation of his sin whatsoever. I am sorry, folks, but homosexuality is a sin--the Bible clearly condemns it. Any who practice this sin openly are rejecting God and His Word and as such are not good companions/friends for young people, or people of any age. I am not necessarily advocating being rude or shunning such people...God loves them too and we can show them the love of God, but doing that and being their bosom buddy are two entirely different things.

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book- there's a homosexual character in this book, who does not get saved. It's quite sad, really.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was okay, but I didn't care for the protagonist/narrator.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had so much potential. But the writing just completely went off track. The author focused way too much on her best friend Kate. If Kate hadn't been in the picture, it would've been so much better. The main focus of the outside of the book is film. On the inside, she likes movies and she's in a film club, but that's it. Legit, that's it. She doesn't know how to do anything, she only writes one line of a screenplay.

My favourite character was Frankie. Which sucked because he was only in the beginning and epilogue, which really ticked me off. You don't do that, where you add in a character and then after like seven chapters take him out of the picture entirely minus one texting conversation and then have him in the epilogue. And yes this was a Christian book, and yes Frankie was gay, but it was good to have a change, despite the fact that this was very typical.

Ruby is a fifteen year old girl who moved from a small town to the big city. She goes to church with her parents, she has two brothers, her parents are divorced. Got that all down. Okay, great. Now onto things that happen in almost every single Christian YA contemporary book.
1. Is she tricked into going to a party, has a bit of beer and leaves by herself, calling her mom and stepfather and getting in trouble? Check.
2. Does this character start to lose her faith? Check.
And while those are only two points, one always happens in every Melody Carlson book, and now this and I'm sure others. Thank you Krista McGee for being original.

I'm giving this book one star. I originally gave it three stars, but then I typed this up, realized how annoying it was and changed the rating

[Athena Condray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby is a junior in High school, and her life is dramatically changing. Her home is in Cotton wood, Everything she’s ever known. Divorce is hard, and especially moving to a school where you don’t know anybody, Sad start to the story, but the message is great, and has a strong finish. (Highly recommend)

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I borrowed this book because I've read several others by this author that I really enjoyed - but this YA was a miss. Addressing teen angst + faith is hard to pull off.

[Kristi Zimmerman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could understand why I even bothered finishing.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a highlight for me. In fact, when I probably see this book, it'll be categorized as "a waste of my time".

First of all, I was very disconnected to the characters. Meaning, I didn't care. It's not that they were completely unlikable (although they could be) or annoyingly perfect. They were just... 2-D. They never really came to life for me.

Another thing is the Christianity issue throughout the book. I am a Christian, and so some things sort of pissed me off. So, at one part the book gets really involved with gay people because Ruby becomes best friends with one. But the book never delved into that issue. There was just that time when Ruby got super pissed at people who didn’t support gay people and that Jesus said to love everyone and stuff. Agreed… But Jesus also says a lot of things about being gay, and I’m not going to get into that right now this review will never end. So, if you’re against gayness you’re immediately a harmful tyrant? I have NOTHING against homosexual people. Just because I don’t think that what they’re doing is right doesn’t mean I’m condemning them. Back to the story – the author never developed this idea of homosexuality. Like, why was it in the book anyone? It’s like the author started on it then dropped the topic because there was some really good red velvet cake in the fridge.

Also, she never took off on the idea of Ruby’s friend Kate being sexually active. Ruby’s friend (who was 15 years old) had sex multiple times with a college guy and she was sneaking around and stuff. Why did the author leave it at that? Why didn’t she go on about Kate’s choices and how they impacted her? Why was it even in the story as a major issue if the author didn’t act on it? Was it just there to propel the plot? I really did not get it. All concepts and ideas were blurry and badly elaborated on. Major things happened, but the spotlight never seemed to land on them.

Something else that bugged me is Nick and Ruby. Like, what? I didn’t get their relationship from the beginning. Multiple times the author made shady comments about Nick’s actions – and that went nowhere. At the beginning of the story, Ruby was supposed to be infatuated with Nick, and I guess the storyline led to her not liking him in the end. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that. At times the characters reminded me of robots. You know jerky hand motions and abrupt “yes” and “no”s. And then there was that guy who’s name started with a K… We’ll call him K because I really don’t wanna go all the way to my book pile and fish it out because once this review is over, hopefully I will never remember it. Anyway, at first Ruby was all hating K and I thought this would progress to her seeing his beautiful heart behind all that dark façade or whatever. So imagine my surprise when Ruby saw his the next day and her heart went all “pitter-patter” and she tried not to stare in his moody dark eyes or whatever. In addition, she went on to say “noooo I totally don’t like him *giggle*", reminding me of those little annoying squeaky girls at school who are always like, “OMG I totally don’t like him… NO! I wasn’t checking out his butt LOL”. HGISKDFGKS!!! I once read this one book where this chick admitted she thought that guy was “totally hot” but she still tried to like ignore that fact. Well, not only did Ruby make it hard on HERSELF, but she also made it hard on me when I had to listen to her think to herself like 24/7 (Okaaaaaaay, not 24/7, but still), “Why are my hands sweaty? It’s just him, I don’t like him, BLAH BLAH he is arrogant BLAH BLAH”.

This book just wasn’t for me. Maybe it’s for you, but I won’t recommend it in case its not and then you’ll blame me for your torture.

[Holly (2 Kids and Tired) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful book. After her parents divorce, 15-year old Ruby Madden moves from conservative, rural Northern California to liberal, affluent Marin County, near San Francisco. Her younger brother moves with her and her mother andstep dad, while her older brother remains with their dad and step mom . Ruby struggles with not only trying to maintain friendships left behind and adjust to a new, very different school, but also with making new friends and finding her place.

She finds herself working in her aunt's coffee house and wandering around a new school so large it needs a map. As Ruby figures out her life and her place in this new world, she begins to make friends and finds herself part of a group of amateur filmmakers. With some guidance from a coffeehouse customer, Ruby just might find her way.

Really, a fun novel. It's been a really long time since I was a teenager, and the times were different than today. Yet, some teen themes are timeless and moving and changing schools and leaving behind best friends and crushes is hard no matter what your era.

Cindy Martinusen-Coloma captured a delightful voice in Ruby. She's honest and full of faults, but very likeable. Ruby struggles with maintaining her long-distance friendships and supporting her best friend Kate, via texting, through Kate's difficult choices. She finds herself friends with a charming, gay school mate who helps her transition into school. One day on the wrong side a group of rich girls, she finds herself friends with others the next day.

Ruby has a tender faith in God and finds it tested as she works her way through the new situations and life she's been given.

Light, entertaining and easy to read, with realistic themes of faith and friendship as well as a well-handled situation of teen drinking. Easily recommended for teen girls. I look forward to reading more of Cindy's work.

[Amber ~ The Reading Addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby is such a relatable character. I'm sure that most teenage girls have shared in Ruby's daydreams about the perfect boyfriend or her fear of not fitting in. She could be any regular high school girl, dealing with the typical challenges that come with being a teen.

It's obvious from the very beginning of the book that this is book is written by a Christian with a young-adult Christian audience in mind. While this doesn't mean that non-Christians won't enjoy it, I do think that Christians will connect more with Ruby. I for one loved the uplifting and inspirational aspects of the story in which Ruby bonds with God. She begins to understand where her life is headed and what God has in store for her.

This book may be classified as "chick lit," but it is by no means shallow. Ruby deals with real problems that girls are faced with every day. Boys, family, insecurities, faith, parents, and friends are all hot topics in this novel. Ruby's story mirrors many parts of my life, and I think many other readers will feel the same way.

Overall, I'd say that this is a wonderful, heartwarming novel for any preteen/teenage reader. I can easily recommend it to my friends. If you enjoyed Ruby Unscripted (or even if you haven't), I would also recommend Cindy's other novel, Caleb + Kate. I loved that one even more.

*I received this novel from Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

[Darcy Wishard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that just leaves you smiling when you're finished! Ruby is a character I immediately bonded with...she could be any girl you went to high school with, the girl next door who is dealing with stuff most teens deal with today. Her parents are divorced and her mom is moving to a new town. All Ruby wants is for things to go back the way they used to be.

There are a few perks to her new home... there's a boy (there is ALWAYS a boy :) and her new job at her aunts coffee place. At school she gets teased for being a goody goody and for going to church but even good girls make mistakes. Ruby ends up at a party that her mother would freak out about if she knew she was there.

All in all a beautifully written Christian novel that is uplifting and heartwarming with out being heavy handed. In fact the author is so subtle that I had to double check to see if the book was listed as "Christian fiction" which is great because sometimes kids think these kinds of books will be corny. They will never guess...they will just read a well written, very engaging, positive story about a teenage girl who learns to lean on God and her family when dealing with her problems.

Perfectly suited for 6th grade and up!

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third book I've read by this author. I do not plan to read any others or to keep my copies of the three I've read. "Ruby Unscripted" is a very sophisticated book intended for teens. It is much more sophisticated than my teens in the rural South. However, it is much cleaner and more moral than many books I've read for teens. While "Ruby Unscripted" may be realistic for some demographics, reading this book was like watching TV - one has to realize that there are only a very few people who are in this situation. While the author included God in the equation - and gave a realistic portrayal of some coming-of-age issues - I was disappointed that she did not devote more time to possible solutions. The solutions were in the novel, but they were basically one-liners and were few and far between. The discerning reader (which most readers are not) had to look for them. The author squandered an opportunity to positively impact a significant number of readers in a more evangelical way. Having said that, I do realize that authors do not want to be "preachy", but I think she said too little. This seemed to me to be a book filled with teen drama with enough mention of God thrown in to get it published by a Christian publishing house.

[Em-em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby Unscripted is about friendship family and faith. This is my first time reading a book that has put faith in its context. It was a slow start for me. I was constantly waiting for something exciting to happen. At first I thought that this will be another teenage love story. So I kept looking out for any signs of that romance. There was a tiny bit hint of romance but it never went to far as a crush. Then I realized I was reading a book with a character that is 15 years old I cant possibly expect them to have that full blown romance thing.

Though I expected romantic-comedy type of book, amazingly I wasn't disappointed at all. Part of the reason is that this is the first book that I have read that is not trying to make 15 year old girls grow up fast and start making out, second because the story put an emphasis about self discovery and life; how you can never plan every single moment of it life will really surprise you one way or another. And sometimes that surprise can bring out the best out of yourself. Lastly, I like how the book ended. Leaving the conclusion of what will happen to the readers.

A surprisingly good read for me.

[Christy Trever]

Ruby Unscripted by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma is the first in a hopeful series about 15-year old Ruby Madden who has moved from rural California to the big city of Marin where the high schoolers all look like they walked off of a movie set and she just may have finally found a place where she belongs. Ruby has spent much of her life daydreaming and thinking about art and travel which sets her apart from her high school friends who are far more focused on who is dating who. This big move could be the answer to her prayers, but living so far away from her father, big brother, and best friend leaves her vulnerable to the predations of high school bullies The author has created a real-life teenager in Ruby full of insecurities, overflowing emotions, and questions about the big picture in life. Ruby stumbles along the way, several times, but she comes across as a girl you'd love to be your daughter's best friend or son's new girlfriend. I hope Cindy writes more about sweet Ruby and her dreams of movies.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, but I wanted more details and descriptions. I didn't feel like I knew the characters very well and I thought the plot could have been more developed, it was a short book. I thought Ruby was an intriguing character, but I never fell in love with her and her life, I wasn't anxious to see what would happen to her next. The book also could have ended better. I probably wouldn't recommend.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book and finished it in just one day.
*spoiler*
I just felt like...the ending was much too abrupt. The book was lagging a bit, and suddenly Ruby's ruined the film showing, and then she's forgiven. And that's just about it.
BAM.
Done. Really?
And the back summary of the book describes Marin has a hard place for her to fit in. But I guess that I thought it would be harder for Ruby, but it seemed a little too easy.
If there's a sequel, I might read it. We'll just have to see if it comes out.

[Tessa Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about this book: The protagonist was much like myself, the cover, the author's style of writing, and the fact that it had to do with coffee, films, and traveling.

What I disliked about this book: The plot wasn't that great, the ending wasn't amazing, or the characters. I do wish, however, that there would be more mention of God since it is labeled under Christian fiction.

Other comments: This novel is basically to be read for enjoyment). It's relaxing, not exactly suspenseful.

[Tabitha Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are too many tropes in this book: divorce, suicide, drugs, sex, moving & being the new person, being the only working-class person in a wealthy community, etc... It really seems like it's trying too hard. The ending is abrupt and uncertain, like the author ran out of her allotted pages. That being said, I still read it through. It was a little too dramatic, even for a YA book. It's a bit weird that Ruby is unable to look back at previous text messages & has to ask what people sent.

[Eva Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the best books I have ever read. It has timing perfectly and it's not too confusing at the beginning Ruby can be a frustrating character at times but she is an amazing girl- I wish this book did not end the way it did, there should be a sequel because I need to know what happens next!

[Trish Boese · Rating 4 out of 5]

4* I like Cindy's novels. This one is written for young adults and it is realistic (complete with lots of texting!) and yet refreshing. The main character, 15-year-old Ruby, is average and goes through some pretty normal stuff, but she learns to find joy in the middle of it all. This is clean Christian fiction.

[Brianna Stedman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really was unscripted... I had no clue where we were going or what was going to happen, and not in a good way. It was actually really boring.. And the author added some things, I think for "Shock value", that she didn't need to. It was marketed as Christian fiction... what a joke. o_O

[Lark · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really was unscripted... I had no clue where we were going or what was going to happen, and not in a good way. It was actually really boring.. And the author added some things, I think for "Shock value", that she didn't need to. It was marketed as Christian fiction... what a joke. o_O

[Nora14 · Rating 4 out of 5]

cool but akward

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neat series I found that comes close to Melody Carlson's teen books. Interesting references to the independent film industry.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an okay read, and it went by quickly, but I just didn't love it. I do like that its Christian fiction, but not over the top. The girl goes to church, but she's still a normal girl.

[Sydney]

I thought this book was a little predictable. However I think its also very relatable.

[Susan Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great girl book!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again I wish i could rate it 4 and a half!! I really liked it. It was a lot better than Bueautiful!!!!

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good. I love how she portrays Ruby and her brother.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

its a great book but i thought that the author could have put a little bit more thought into the details.