Joseph E. Wallace

First Line: Ruby Thomas had never seen anything as beautiful as Ebbets Field, with its brick exterior and half-moon windows that reminded her of slices of jelly candy.

Ruby Thomas was seven years old when she visited Ebbets Field. The date was April 5, 1913. It was the first and last time she remembered being happy.

Ruby's mother was an ardent suffragette, and homeschooled her children. Ruby was grateful for that because whenever the neighborhood children would see her, they'd take one look at show more her long arms and start shouting, "Hey, Monkey Girl!" Life was much easier when she didn't have to deal with those other kids. What those kids didn't know was that her long arms helped her throw a baseball hard, fast and accurately.

When the flu epidemic strikes a few years later, Ruby's family is practically wiped out. At the age of thirteen, she is left in charge of her two young nieces, and she's got to find a way to put a roof over their heads and food on the table. Chucking rocks at squirrels just doesn't cut it. Because she can throw a baseball hard and fast and accurately, she becomes a sideshow attraction at Coney Island, and her fame brings her in contact with such celebrities as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. But in those roaring days of the 1920s, there always seems to be someone with an eye to how they can cheat her out of as much money as possible. Life is an unending struggle, and Ruby has very little to smile about.

Based on the life of Jackie Mitchell, Diamond Ruby brings the era of the teens and twenties to life. As I followed Ruby Thomas, I felt what it was like to grow up poor in the New York City metro area; I felt what it was like to struggle through the flu epidemic; and as each person tried to cheat Ruby and her nieces out of what was rightfully theirs, I felt cheated, too. When Ruby pitched all day at the Coney Island sideshow, my own arm and shoulder ached. Wallace is masterful at putting the reader right inside Ruby's skin.

If I have any quibble at all with this book, it's that it's almost unrelentingly grim. Ruby learned at a very early age that life isn't fair, but as the pages turned, I was so firmly convinced that she was deserving of happiness that I couldn't help but wish that I could watch her experience some.

As an evocation of time and place, as a character study, and as a loving tribute to some forgotten pages of baseball history, Joseph Wallace has hit a home run. show less

I love apocalyptic novels, however there are so many of them out there today that it is sometimes difficult to find those worth reading. And so I am always very, very happy to find a book in this (sub) genre that is well-written, plausible, fun and creepy all at once! "Invasive Species" fits all of my criteria! I loved the story, loved the building sense of dread, loved the writing and most of all, loved the characters! I was so involved in what was going on with the characters that there show more were times I forgot that this was "just" a book and not reality. That, to me, is the sign of a really good book -- if it can make me forget (even if just for a little while) that it is just a story and not reality, it has succeeded and Joe Wallace's book succeeded. If you love strong, well-written characters who are dealing with end-of-the-world type situations and dealing in real-world ways, not in super-hero ways; if you love creepy, apocalyptic novels that will make you at least somewhat frightened to leave your house for a while; if you just love really, really well written books that will scare the hell out of you, you should really give "Invasive Species" a read. You won't regret it! show less

There is always something satisfying with reading about historical figures - especially females - who break boundaries and change the world for the better. Yes, even if it simply involves bringing women into a man's sport. It just gives me hope for the world - and a better appreciation of the world we live in today. I mean, Diamond Ruby is set in the 1920s - that's 90 years ago, and while that seems like a century ago, how many of us still know someone who can remember such a time where show more sports were predominantly male? It's just astounding.

Back to the book though, I really became invested in Ruby and her determination. She wasn't trying to prove the point that women can do things just as well as men (and maybe better) - she was simply trying to keep food on the table for her small family. After her parents and siblings die, Ruby is left as main breadwinner for her two nieces. Watching her go from being gawked at a sideshow like she was a bearded lady to playing on a men's baseball league was really fascinating. I loved the support system around her, including the famous Babe Ruth.

While being a mostly uplifting book, there were dark moments in Ruby's life. For instance, when she is first trying to figure out how to feed herself and her two nieces, Ruby gets involved with modeling - the sort where the less you wear, the better - and the photographer will pay you quite handsomely if you treat him rather nicely. The whole situation just threw me aback - and it made me ill to think about the many girls who might have been coerced into such a lifestyle. Another moment is when Ruby gets involved with rigged baseball games - and she has to decide what to do for the sake of her family.

Diamond Ruby is a fascinating read of a young woman who perseveres during a diversity of hardships and carves her place in baseball history. I can't wait to find out what Mr. Wallace has in store for Ruby! show less

Somehow I thought that Invasive Species was about space aliens arriving on earth so I was quite surprised when I realized it actually is a science fiction thriller about a breed of killer wasps that basically wipe out mankind. From a remove African wilderness, these wasps venture forth and before too long have managed to spread across the planet and, using humans as incubators for their larvae, have decimated the population.

With it’s suspenseful plot and exotic settings this is a book show more that makes the reader very aware of how fragile our place in the ecosystem is and how quickly things can change. I found it a little over the top with governments bending over backwards to keep this species and it’s attacks a secret, but it was definitely a page turner. Overall Invasive Species was a fun and scary apocalyptic story that kept me engrossed throughout. show less