Beat Street

The last thing eleven-year-old Ruby Tabeata expected to happen on her way to a Jack Kerouac reading was to be hauled to the police station. It's 1958 and Ruby is the opposite of a 1950s stereotype: fierce, funny and strong willed, she is only just starting to chart her course in a family of Beat Generation artists in Greenwich Village, New York. Ruby dreams of meeting famous poets while becoming one herself; instead, she's accused of trying to steal fruit from a local vendor and is forced to live in a children's home. In this inspiring coming of age story Ruby struggles to return to family and friends, and she learns her only choice is to follow her heart. Join Ruby on her journey as she finds unexpected friendships, the courage to rebel against unjust authority and the healing power of art in this unique historical middle grade novel, The Beat on Ruby's Street by Jenna Zark.

When her best friend Sophie goes missing, 12-year-old Ruby Tabeata has a choice: wait for her friend to come home or defy her parents and find Sophie. Set during the 1950s Blacklist era when writers like Sophie's mom were being jailed or fired, Fool's Errand sends Ruby out of her city and her comfort zone. With nothing to rely on but her grit and determination, Ruby has to outsmart the men chasing Sophie and her mom-discovering that whether or not you succeed, trying to save a friend is never a fool's errand. Read part one of this middle-grade Beat Street Series, The Beat on Ruby's Street, to learn how Ruby's story begins.