Lock and Key

Chapter One "And finally," Jamie said as he pushed the door open, "we come to the main event. Your room." I was braced for pink. Ruffles or quilting, or maybe even appliqué. Which was probably kind of unfair, but then again, I didn't know my sister anymore, much less her decorating style. With total strangers, it had always been my policy to expect the worst. Usually they -- and those that you knew best, for that matter -- did not disappoint.Instead, the first thing I saw was green. A large, high window, on the other side of which were tall trees separating the huge backyard from that of the house that backed up to it. Everything was big about where my sister and her husband, Jamie, lived -- from the homes to the cars to the stone fence you saw first thing when you pulled into the neighborhood itself, made up of boulders that looked too enormous to ever be moved. It was like Stonehenge, but suburban. So weird. It was only as I thought this that I realized we were all still standing there in the hallway, backed up like a traffic jam. At some point Jamie, who had been leading this little tour, had stepped aside, leaving me in the doorway. Clearly, they wanted me to step in first. So I did. The room was, yes, big, with cream-colored walls. There were three other windows beneath the big one I'd first seen, although they each were covered with thin venetian blinds. To the right, I saw a double bed with a yellow comforter and matching pillows, a white blanket folded over the foot. There was a small desk, too, a chair tucked under it. The ceiling slanted on either side, meeting in a flat strip in the middle, where there was a square skylight, also covered with a venetian blind-a little square one, clearly custom made to fit. It was so matchy-matchy and odd that for a moment, I found myself just staring up at it, as if this was actually the weirdest thing about that day. "So, you've got your own bathroom," Jamie said, stepping around me, his feet making soft thuds on the carpet, which was of course spotless. In fact, the whole room smelled like paint and new carpet, just like the rest of the house. I wondered how long ago they had moved in -- a month, six months? "Right through this door. And the closet is in here, too. Weird, right? Ours is the same way. When we were building, Cora claimed it meant she would get ready faster. A theory that has yet to be proved out, I might add." Then he smiled at me, and again I tried to force a smile back. Who was this odd creature, my brother-in-law -- a term that seemed oddly fitting, considering the circumstances -- in his mountain-bike T-shirt, jeans, and funky expensive sneakers, cracking jokes in an obvious effort to ease the tension of an incredibly awkward situation? I had no idea, other than he had to be the very last person I would have expected to end up with my sister, who was so uptight she wasn't even pretending to smile at his attempts. At least I was trying. Not Cora. She was just standing in the doorway, barely over the threshold, arms crossed over her chest. She had on a sleeveless sweater -- even though it was mid-October, the house was beyond cozy, almost hot -- and I could see the definition of her biceps and triceps, every muscle seemingly tensed, the same way they had been when she'd walked into the meeting room at Poplar House two hours earlier. Then, too, it seemed like Jamie had done all the talking, both to Shayna, the head counselor, and to me while Cora remained quiet. Still, every now and again, I could feel her eyes on me, steady, as if she was studying my features, committing me to memory, or maybe just trying to figure out if there was any part of me she recognized at all. So Cora had a husband, I'd thought, staring at them as we'd sat across from each other, Shayna shuffling papers between us. I wondered if they'd had a fancy wedding, with her in a big white dress, or if they'd just eloped after she'd told him she had no family to speak of. Left to her own devices, this was the story I was sure she preferred -- that she'd just sprouted, all on her own, neither connected nor indebted to anyone else at all. "Thermostat's out in the hallway if you need to adjust it," Jamie was saying now. "Personally, I like a bit of a chill to the air, but your sister prefers it to be sweltering. So even if you turn it down, she'll most likely jack it back up within moments." Again he smiled, and I did the same. God, this was exhausting. I felt Cora shift in the doorway, but again she didn't say anything."Oh!" Jamie said, clapping his hands. "Almost forgot. The best part." He walked over to the window in the center of the wall, reaching down beneath the blind. It wasn't until he was stepping back and it was opening that I realized it was, in fact, a door. Within moments, I smelled cold air. "Come check this out."I fought the urge to look back at Cora again as I took a step, then one more, feeling my feet sink into the carpet, following him over the threshold onto a small balcony. He was standing by the railing, and I joined him, both of us looking down at the backyard. When I'd first seen it from the kitchen, I'd noticed just the basics: grass, a shed, the big patio with a grill at one end. Now, though, I could see there were rocks laid out in the grass in an oval shape, obviously deliberately, and again, I thought of Stonehenge. What was it with these rich people, a druid fixation? "It's gonna be a pond," Jamie told me as if I'd said this out loud."A pond?" I said. "Total ecosystem," he said. "Thirty-by-twenty and lined, all natural, with a waterfall. And fish. Cool, huh?"Again, I felt him look at me, expectant. "Yeah," I said, because I was a guest here. "Sounds great." He laughed. "Hear that, Cor? She doesn't think I'm crazy." I looked down at the circle again, then back at my sister. She'd come into the room, although not that far, and still had her arms crossed over her chest as she stood there, watching us. For a moment, our eyes met, and I wondered how on earth I'd ended up here, the last place I knew either one of us wanted me to be. Then she opened her mouth to speak for the first time since we'd pulled up in the driveway and all this, whatever it was, began. "It's cold," she said. "You should come inside."

\ From Barnes & NobleAfter her mom vanished in a stench of drugs and alcohol, Ruby continued to live in the family house alone. Finally found out, the introspective teenager is sent to the luxurious home of her older sister, Cora, whom she hadn't seen in ten years. Everything there seems unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and supremely weird: her fancy new room; her lavish new wardrobe; the exclusive private school where she never quite fits in. Most mysterious of all is Nate, the friendly boy next door who seems to have a deep secret of his own. Another subtle character-driven teen novel by Sarah Dessen, the author of Just Listen and That Summer.\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyDessen (Just Listen) inverts a familiar fairy tale: what if Cinderella got the prince, the castle and all its accoutrements, but wasn’t remotely interested? After her mother abandons her, Ruby Cooper is flying below the radar of officialdom and trying to make it to her 18th birthday, when she’s busted by the landlord and turned over to social services. Ruby gets taken in by her estranged sister, Cora, who left for college a decade earlier and never looked back, and Cora’s husband, Jamie, the wealthy founder of a ubiquitous social networking site. Resentful, suspicious and vulnerable, she resists mightily, refusing the risky business of depending on anybody but herself, and wearing the key to her old house around her neck. All the Dessen trademarks are here—the swoon-worthy boy next door who is not what he appears to be; and the supporting characters who force Ruby to rethink her cynical worldview, among them the frazzled owner of a jewelry kiosk at the mall. The author again defines characters primarily through dialogue, and although Ruby and her love interest, Nate, sound wiser than their years, they talk the way teens might want to—from the heart. A must for Dessen fans, it will win her new readers, too. Ages 12-up. \ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.\ \ \ \ KLIATTAGERANGE: Ages 15 to adult. \ Lock and Key is a quiet, moving dramatic family story such as we expect from Sarah Dessen, one of the fine authors of YA fiction. It is long, and could easily be considered a novel for adults as well as YAs. Ruby is almost 18 years old, and her mother has abandoned her. She tried to take care of herself and pay the bills, but the landlords figured it out and reported her to social services. Ruby’s life changes dramatically when her older sister Cora and Cora’s husband Jamie take her in. Instead of attending a huge, mediocre public school, she now is in a nurturing private school; she has a ready-made family who can take good care of her; it is possible for her to attend college. So, why is she so hesitant to trust Cora and Jamie, to relax and allow new friends into her life? As the months go by, slowly Ruby learns some truths about her own parents and about Cora, and she begins to allow people to love her and take care of her. She gets involved with the next-door neighbor, Nate, who seems to also be living the good life, but Ruby finds out how vulnerable Nate is to his abusive father. There is some smoking of weed, drinking of alcohol, and casual sex, but it is mostly suggested, not described in detail, and certainly not portrayed as positive in Ruby’s life. Thoughtful readers who like slowly unfolding family sagas will want to read this latest work by Dessen. Reviewer: Claire Rosser\ March 2008 (Vol. 42, No.2)\ \ \ \ \ \ VOYADessen's latest novel is a testament to her development as a writer. Ruby is unlike any of her previous narrators. A loner by choice, Ruby follows in her mother's footsteps with drinking and drugs. Given a chance to start over, she redefines the meaning of family and in doing so, herself. The characters are real and relatable. This new book is Dessen's best since This Lullaby and it will captivate all readers. Reviewer: Abbe Goldberg, Teen Reviewer\ \ \ \ \ Children's LiteratureAbandoned by her mother, Ruby has been living alone in a filthy house without running water or heat for two months. Her only goal is keeping her mother's disappearance a secret until she turns eighteen, legally free to be on her own. But with only a few months left, her secret is discovered and she is placed in the care of her sister Cora, who left ten long years ago. Living with Cora and her successful husband, Ruby now has access to things she previously thought impossible—new clothes, private schooling, a beautiful home, and even the possibility of college. Despite now having a family, a home, and all these opportunities, Ruby cannot let her guard down, fearing that at any moment everything could change and Ruby will be alone once again. After her next door neighbor Nate repeatedly helps her out of trouble, Ruby reluctantly becomes friends with him. As their relationship develops, Ruby discovers that Nate has more in common with her than she initially thought—secrets he cannot face. In order to help both Nate and herself, Ruby must make peace with her past and learn to trust others. Dessen's novel is quick and fun literary candy. While the plot is at times unrealistic, readers will connect to Ruby and root for her success. Reviewer: Melissa Joy Adams\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 7 Up- Ruby, 17, is taken in by her older sister and brother-in-law when her mother abandons her. Ruby and her sister haven't spoken since Cora left for college a decade earlier. She moves from a semi-heated, semi-lighted farmhouse to a McMansion in a gated community. The theme of abandonment permeates the narrative-Ruby's mother's disappearance, Cora's perceived abandonment, and all of the small abandonments around every corner throughout Ruby's life. The plot hinges luxuriously on character arc. Ruby's drama of pathological self-reliance to eventual trust plays out through thoughtful, though occasionally heavy-handed, inner monologue and metaphor. As always, Dessen's characters live and breathe. Ruby's sweet hipster brother-in-law and Nate, the freakishly affable hottie next door, are especially vivid, and Cora's change from bitter control freak to sympathetic co-protagonist is subtle and seamless. Though Ruby and Nate don't have quite the cinematic chemistry of many of Dessen's couples, their cautious friendship into romance seems that much more realistic. The author's feel for setting is as uncanny as ever, and Ruby's descriptions of the homogenous nouveau riche Anytown are sharp, clever, and honest. The dialogue, especially between Ruby and Cora, is crisp, layered, and natural. The slow unfolding adds to an anticipatory mood. What's more, secrets and situations revealed in the second half of the novel are resolved more believably by already deeply developed characters. Recommend this one to patient, sophisticated readers.-Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library\ \ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsOverlong but easygoing piece about a girl shifting from defensive solitude to connection. Social Services doesn't allow Ruby to stay alone in the yellow house for very long after her mother disappears, instead placing her with older sister Cora and Cora's unflappably sweet husband. Having failed in an attempt to run away the first night, Ruby decides to wait out the year until she turns 18 and can be alone forever. The narrative arc is predictable: Ruby's new school is full of rich kids but she makes friends anyway; Cora's initial coldness is actually steady loyalty (and Cora never really deserted the family long ago-mom lied); the abused boy next door is outgoing and helpful, but he needs to learn the same lesson about trust that Ruby does. The key Ruby pragmatically wears as a necklace becomes a widespread jewelry fad, just one of many unsubtle symbols and forced messages. Sentences overflow with extra clauses and unnecessary details, contributing to the book's length. Dessen's tone, however, is invitingly non-threatening and will reward patient readers. (Fiction. YA)\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 8 Up—Seventeen-year-old Ruby has been abandoned by her father, her older sister, and now her alcoholic mother. When social services discovers her living on her own in deteriorating conditions, they move her in with her married sister Cora who she hasn't seen in years. Ruby has become independent and mature beyond her years, and has trust issues. The relationship between the characters and their internal struggles are complicated, but their voices carry listeners through the story's arc to a hopeful and satisfying conclusion. These descriptions are often raw and the contrast between Ruby's gritty former life and her new lavish surroundings with her sister and brother-in-law make these scenes even more startling. Jodi Dick does an excellent job of differentiating her voice for each of the characters, making this frank and honest story come to life.—Genevieve Gallagher, Charlottesville High School, VA\ \