Ruby (1976)

by Rosa Guy

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Ruby Cathy is 18, beautiful, and desperately lonely. Transplanted from her warm, sunny home in the West Indies to crowded, urban Harlem, she is forced to live under her father's stern, unyielding rule after her mother's death, Ruby feels left without friends, without comfort and without love. Then she meets Daphne Duprey, who is "cool, calm, cultured, sophisticated and refined" - everything Ruby is not. Together, Ruby and Daphne build a relationship that gives each young woman a new understanding of strength, friendship and love.… (more)

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Did you know that this was the first lesbian YA novel*? (In the U.S. or in English, I'm assuming.) And I would have been impressed, too, for how well the lesbian relationship is treated for 1976, if it weren't for the last page. Ugh, compulsory heterosexuality. Oh well. It turns out this is the second book in a trilogy, and the first book is about Ruby's sister — one of my favorite characters in the book: a bookworm who stands up to her abusive father — and the third is about her best friend, so I'm looking forward to reading those, which, if devoid of lesbian characters, will at least be very critical when it comes to race and class, since Rosa Guy was involved in black nationalist and other civil rights movements and you can see those politics in her fiction.

*It's also the first lesbian or gay YA novel to feature a non-white protagonist.

csoki637 | Nov 27, 2016 |

Not convinced by the central romance I'm afraid. The characters are well-drawn and strong though. (

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comixminx | Apr 5, 2013 |

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Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection – 1976)

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Canonical title

Ruby

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Original publication date

1976

People/Characters

Ruby Cathy

Daphne Duprey

Important places

Harlem, New York, New York, USA

New York, New York, USA

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▾Book descriptions

Ruby Cathy is 18, beautiful, and desperately lonely. Transplanted from her warm, sunny home in the West Indies to crowded, urban Harlem, she is forced to live under her father's stern, unyielding rule after her mother's death, Ruby feels left without friends, without comfort and without love. Then she meets Daphne Duprey, who is "cool, calm, cultured, sophisticated and refined" - everything Ruby is not. Together, Ruby and Daphne build a relationship that gives each young woman a new understanding of strength, friendship and love.

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