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Lock and Key Paperback – May 14, 2009
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Unlock your heart and the rest will follow.
Ruby is used to taking care of herself.
But now that she’s living with her sister, she’s got her own room, she’s going to a good school, and her future looks bright.
Plus there’s the adorable boy next door.
Can Ruby learn to open her heart and let him in?
“All the Dessen trademarks here” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Sarah Dessen is the winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contributions to YA literature, as well as the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award.
Books by Sarah Dessen:
That Summer
Someone Like You
Keeping the Moon
Dreamland
This Lullaby
The Truth About Forever
Just Listen
Lock and Key
Along for the Ride
What Happened to Goodbye
The Moon and More
Saint Anything
Once and for All
- Print length448 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 9
- Lexile measure840L
- Dimensions1.2 x 5.5 x 8.3 inches
- PublisherSpeak
- Publication dateMay 14, 2009
- ISBN-100142414727
- ISBN-13978-0142414729
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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About the Author
Dessen’s books are frequently chosen for the Teens’ Top Ten list and the list of Best Fiction for Young Adults. They have been translated into twenty-five languages. Sarah Dessen is the recipient of the 2017 Margaret A. Edwards Award from the Young Adult division of the American Library Association.
Sarah Dessen graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with highest honors in creative writing. She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and daughter.
Visit Sarah at sarahdessen.com.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"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 which 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." Â
He laughed. "Hear that, Cor? She doesn't think I'm crazy." Â
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." Â
Before one o'clock that afternoon, when she showed up to claim me, I hadn't seen my sister in ten years. I didn't know where she lived, what she was doing, or even who she was. I didn't care, either. There had been a time when Cora was part of my life, but that time was over, simple as that. Or so I'd thought, until the Honeycutts showed up one random Tuesday and everything changed.
The Honeycutts owned the little yellow farmhouse where my mom and I had been living for about a year. Before that, we'd had an apartment at the Lakeview Chalets, the run-down complex just behind the mall. There, we'd shared a one-bedroom, our only window looking out over the back entrance to the J&K Cafeteria, where there was always at least one employee in a hairnet sitting outside smoking, perched on an overturned milk crate. Running alongside the complex was a stream that you didn't even notice until there was a big rain and it rose, overflowing its nonexistent banks and flooding everything, which happened at least two or three times a year. Since we were on the top floor, we were spared the water itself, but the smell of the mildew from the lower apartments permeated everything, and God only knew what kind of mold was in the walls. Suffice to say I had a cold for two years straight. That was the first thing I noticed about the yellow house: I could breathe there.
It was different in other ways, too. Like the fact that it was a house, and not an apartment in a complex or over someone's garage. I'd grown used to the sound of neighbors on the other side of a wall, but the yellow house sat in the center of a big field, framed by two oak trees. There was another house, off to the left, but it was visible only by flashes of roof you glimpsed through the trees—for all intents and purposes, we were alone. Which was just the way we liked it.
My mom wasn't much of a people person. In certain situations—say, if you were buying, for instance—she could be very friendly. And if you put her within five hundred feet of a man who would treat her like shit, she'd find him and be making nice before you could stop her, and I knew, because I had tried. But interacting with the majority of the population (cashiers, school administrators, bosses, ex-boyfriends) was not something she engaged in unless absolutely necessary, and then, with great reluctance.
Which was why it was lucky that she had me. For as long as I could remember, I'd been the buffer system. The go-between, my mother's ambassador to the world. Whenever we pulled up at the store and she needed a Diet Coke but was too hungover to go in herself, or she spied a neighbor coming who wanted to complain about her late-night banging around again, or the Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door, it was always the same. "Ruby," she'd say, in her tired voice, pressing either her glass or her hand to her forehead. "Talk to the people, would you?"
And I would. I'd chat with the girl behind the counter as I waited for my change, nod as the neighbor again threatened to call the super, ignored the proffered literature as I firmly shut the door in the Jehovah's faces. I was the first line of defense, always ready with an explanation or a bit of spin. "She's at the bank right now," I'd tell the landlord, even as she snored on the couch on the other side of the half-closed door. "She's just outside, talking to a delivery," I'd assure her boss so he'd release her bags for the day to me, while she smoked a much-needed cigarette in the freight area and tried to calm her shaking hands. And finally, the biggest lie of all: "Of course she's still living here. She's just working a lot," which is what I'd told the sheriff that day when I'd been called out of fourth period and found him waiting for me. That time, though, all the spin in the world didn't work. I talked to the people, just like she'd always asked, but they weren't listening.
That first day, though, when my mom and I pulled up in front of the yellow house, things were okay. Sure, we'd left our apartment with the usual drama—owing back rent, the super lurking around, watching us so carefully that we had to pack the car over a series of days, adding a few things each time we went to the store or to work. I'd gotten used to this, though, the same way I'd adjusted to us rarely if ever having a phone, and if we did, having it listed under another name. Ditto with my school paperwork, which my mom often filled out with a fake address, as she was convinced that creditors and old landlords would track us down that way. For a long time, I thought this was the way everyone lived. When I got old enough to realize otherwise, it was already habit, and anything else would have felt strange.
Inside, the yellow house was sort of odd. The kitchen was the biggest room, and everything was lined up against one wall: cabinets, appliances, shelves. Against another wall was a huge propane heater, which in cold weather worked hard to heat the whole house, whooshing to life with a heavy sigh. The only bathroom was off the kitchen, poking out with no insulated walls—my mom said it must have been added on; there'd probably been an outhouse, initially—which made for some cold mornings until you got the hot water blasting and the steam heated things up. The living room was small, the walls covered with dark fake-wood paneling. Even at high noon, you needed a light on to see your hand in front of your face. My mother, of course, loved the dimness and usually pulled the shades shut, as well. I'd come home to find her on the couch, cigarette dangling from one hand, the glow from the TV flashing across her face in bursts. Outside, the sun might be shining, the entire world bright, but in our house, it could always be late night, my mother's favorite time of day.
 In the old one-bedroom apartment, I was accustomed to sometimes being awoken from a dead sleep, her lips close to my ear as she asked me to move out onto the couch, please, honey. As I went, groggy and discombobulated, I'd do my best not to notice whoever slipped back in the door behind her. At the yellow house, though, I got my own room. It was small, with a tiny closet and only one window, as well as orange carpet and those same dark walls, but I had a door to shut, and it was all mine. It made me feel like we'd stay longer than a couple of months, that things would be better here. In the end, though, only one of these things turned out to be true.
I first met the Honeycutts three days after we moved in. It was early afternoon, and we were getting ready to leave for work when a green pickup truck came up the driveway. A man was driving, a woman in the passenger seat beside him. Â
"Mom," I called out to my mother, who was in the bedroom getting dressed. "Someone's here."
 She sighed, sounding annoyed. My mother was at her worst just before going to work, petulant like a child. "Who is it?"
"I don't know," I said, watching as the couple—he in jeans and a denim work shirt, she wearing slacks and a printed top—started to make their way to the house. "But they're about to knock on the door."
"Oh, Ruby." She sighed again. "Just talk to them, would you?"
The first thing I noticed about the Honeycutts was that they were instantly friendly, the kind of people my mother couldn't stand. They were both beaming when I opened the door, and when they saw me, they smiled even wider.
"Well, look at you!" the woman said, as if I'd done something precious just by existing. She herself resembled a gnome, with her small features and halo of white curls, like something made to put on a shelf. "Hello there!"
I nodded, my standard response to all door knockers. Unnecessary verbals only encouraged them, or so I'd learned. "Can I help you?"
The man blinked. "Ronnie Honeycutt," he said, extending his hand. "This is my wife, Alice. And you are?"
I glanced in the direction of my mother's room. While usually she banged around a lot while getting ready—drawers slamming, grumbling to herself—now, of course, she was dead silent. Looking back at the couple, I decided they probably weren't Jehovah's but were definitely peddling something. "Sorry," I said, beginning my patented firm shut of the door, "but we're not—"
"Oh, honey, it's okay!" Alice said. She looked at her husband. "Stranger danger," she explained. "They teach it in school."
"Stranger what?" Ronnie said.
"We're your landlords," she told me. "We just dropped by to say hello and make sure you got moved in all right."
Landlords, I thought. That was even worse than Witnesses. Instinctively, I eased the door shut a bit more, wedging my foot against it. "We're fine," I told them.
"Is your mom around?" Ronnie asked as Alice shifted her weight, trying to see into the kitchen behind me.
I adjusted myself accordingly, blocking her view, before saying, "Actually, she's—"
"Right here," I heard my mother say, and then she was crossing the living room toward us, pulling her hair back with one hand. She had on jeans, her boots, and a white tank top, and despite the fact that she'd just woken up about twenty minutes earlier, I had to admit she looked pretty good. Once, my mother had been a great beauty, and occasionally you could still get a glimpse of the girl she had been—if the light was right, or she'd had a decent night's sleep, or, like me, you were just wistful enough to look for it.
.
Product details
- Publisher : Speak; Reprint edition (May 14, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 448 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0142414727
- ISBN-13 : 978-0142414729
- Reading age : 11 - 13 years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 840L
- Grade level : 7 - 9
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 1.2 x 5.5 x 8.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #226,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
I've been writing, in one way or another, for as long as I can remember. I was always a big reader, mostly because my parents were. I used to get frustrated with my mom because she bought me books for Christmas when what I really wanted were the gifts my friends got, things like sweaters and jewelry. But I did love to read. When I was eight or nine my parents gave me an old manual typewriter and a little desk in the corner of our den, and I'd sit there and type up my stories. I was the kind of kid that people always sighed over and said, "She has such a wild imagination," which usually meant "I wish Sarah would try to stick to the truth." I have a tendency to embellish: I think it's just a weakness of fiction writers. Once you learn how to make a story better, it's hard not to do it all the time."The books I read when I was teenager, the good ones anyway, have stuck more in my mind than anything since. I still love books, but while I couldn't tell you complete plots of novels I read even six months ago, I do remember even the smallest descriptive details from Lois Lowry's A Summer to Die or Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I think it was because back then books were still somewhat new to me, and when I found an author who seemed to say just what I was feeling, it really struck me and resonated. I hope that my books do that for the people who read them: I think it's the best thing to which any writer can aspire. "As far as my other life, my non-writing life, I live in the country with my husband, some lizards, and two dogs who are completely spoiled and rule me completely. I like to work in my garden---although I have not yet perfected the art of keeping everything alive----and, in my weaker moments, shop. I have a bit of an addiction to the Gap clearance rack, to be honest. I have this strange need to buy huge quantities of black pants. How many pairs of black pants does one person need? (Obviously for me, the answer is 11 and counting. But I digress.) What else can I tell you? I love Starbucks mochas but they make me way hyper. I subscribe to too many magazines. I make a mean bean salad. I could go on, but the truth is, my books are much more exciting than I am, and that's a good thing. It's always more fun to make stuff up anyway."
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the story engaging with its twists and turns. They praise the writing style as well-crafted and relatable for readers of all ages. The emotional content is described as touching and heartwarming. Readers appreciate the character development and references to previous novels. The book is described as exciting, entertaining, and inspiring, teaching valuable life lessons.
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Customers enjoy the story's engaging plot and twists and turns. They find it a realistic fiction novel with interesting moments and a feel-good ending.
"...Apart from all this, there is a guy in the story. Of course...." Read more
"I enjoyed this story very much. I laughed,cried and held my breath when waiting to find out where Nate disappeared to...." Read more
"...This story progresses nicely and I was seriously hooked watching the slow transformation of Ruby, seeing her thaw gradually...." Read more
"...that the book was actually not really interesting, but had sparks of interesting moments...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's writing style. They find it well-written, relatable, and an easy read. The author takes time to describe details and create vivid descriptions. The characters and dialog are also appreciated.
"...authors tell you about the big picture, she takes her time and writes about details, the day-by-day picture...." Read more
"...Sarah Dessen is so creative and an amazing writer, I can't wait to buy every one of her books!!" Read more
"Very relatable to those who grew up in the foster system or had broken homes. It’s a great tale of hope for those searching for a family." Read more
"...Her writing is relatable to girls (and boys) of all ages. In fact I just bought this book for my 22 year old sister and she LOVED it...." Read more
Customers find the book relatable and emotional. They find the ending heartwarming and uplifting. The book leaves them laughing, crying, and cheering.
"...inside, and in my own personal experience, I found the ending so heart warming that I cried. So, be sure to read this one. One fantastic book!..." Read more
"Such a great book, so entertaining! It had it all, emotional, funny, entertaining, up close and personal with Ruby and her fears, her emotions, her..." Read more
"...Definately a feel-good novel." Read more
"...The meaning and feeling in this book really hits you hard. I loved it, it may even be my favorite Sarah Dessen book!" Read more
Customers enjoy the characters' development. They appreciate the author's references to previous characters.
"...I loved the characters and their connections with Ruby, the love, the hate, and everything in between...." Read more
"...Loved the characters, the story, the writing, and the editing. I'm just not sure I liked the ending...." Read more
"...by this one, and you'll love the way she sneaks in refernces to characters from previous novels...." Read more
"...Once you start reading Lock & Key you're in the book. You become close with the characters and can't stop reading! :)" Read more
Customers enjoy the book. They find the story exciting and romantic, keeping them interested until the end. The story flows well and keeps readers hooked.
"Such a great book, so entertaining! It had it all, emotional, funny, entertaining, up close and personal with Ruby and her fears, her emotions, her..." Read more
"...Though, the romance was also a very fun and exciting part, of course. The meaning and feeling in this book really hits you hard...." Read more
"...style reads very well and the story flows in a way that keeps the reader interested in finding out what happens next!" Read more
"...It grabbed me from the first chapter. I couldn't put it down." Read more
Customers enjoy the clever inclusion of characters and places from other books.
"...Lock and Key" is just as good!..." Read more
"...love how Dessen incorporates characters and places from other books into lock and key. Quite clever" Read more
"Lock and Key..." Read more
"Lock and Key..." Read more
Customers find the stories inspiring and relatable. They teach important life lessons and are self-growth books.
"...At least it is not for me. They are self-growth books. I mean, of course there is romance, and that is part of the self-growth I am talking about...." Read more
"...It's an amazing story about life and is really inspiring!!!!!!! I recommend this as the best book EVER!!!!" Read more
"Excellent teen book author! Her stories are relatable and teach improtant life lessons." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it funny and entertaining, with an up-close and personal view of Ruby and her family. The book is realistic and details the day-to-day picture.
"...big picture, she takes her time and writes about details, the day-by-day picture...." Read more
"...It had it all, emotional, funny, entertaining, up close and personal with Ruby and her fears, her emotions, her thoughts, her transformation!..." Read more
"I rated this book with five stars because it is so realistic...." Read more
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I will pick up anything by Sarah Dessen
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2010I really love how Sarah Dessen writes. While most of young adult authors tell you about the big picture, she takes her time and writes about details, the day-by-day picture. The stories are stories that could happen to anyone, they are belivable but still you fall in love with them. Maybe thats why, because we can identify, not to a certain extent, but fully with the characters and the story.
Not to mention, that Sarah doesnt write specificaly "romance novels". Of course they talk about romance, there is always romance in her books, but that is not the topic of the book. At least it is not for me. They are self-growth books. I mean, of course there is romance, and that is part of the self-growth I am talking about. But, the whole book isnt based on the fact that the guy wants her, or what the guy does, or what she feels about him. There are many other factors. It is not the center of the book. It is how SHE develops and how HER mind changes, and how maturity can be something subjective, etc. And the main character always thinks about her future first than in her boyfriend or other stuff that are not as nearly important as her future. She goes to college, she doesnt stay because "her boyfriend is there", but almost always finds a way to work it out. She doesnt settle for the easiest thing to do. That is also why I love Sara Dessen.
I honestly think this is the best book Sarah Dessen has writen. I havent read them all, but I seriously doubt any other is going to top this one.
Ruby, the main character, is a seventeen year old, that thinks the only way to live her life happily is being a one-woman-operation. To do all by herself, without anyone`s help, or pity. She was raised this way by her mom, who is a tormented woman that is continuously drunk and hit her and her sister when they were younger. Ruby and her mom lived "fine", moving constantly from one one-bedroom-apartment-with-putrefact-odors to the other. They evaded taxes, and she changed schools and used fake names many times. Her sister, Cora, ten years older, had escaped all this when she moved away as soon as she turned 18. Ruby never saw her again since. But now, that her mother abandoned her, she is forced to go live with her sister and her husband in a rich neighborhood and to go to a private school for "rich kid"s. Everything changes so fast that Ruby finds herself attached to her old life and doest want to start a new one. But, as everything in life, her opinion changes and you find yourself thinking with her to solve her fears, and her future, if she still has one.
I absolutely adored this book, and hope it kept going. I read it in three days, couldnt put it down!! So, definitely a page-turner.
Apart from all this, there is a guy in the story. Of course. I mean, what would a Sarah Dessen book be without a guy for the main character to fall in love with? Well, this guy is Nate. And he is absolutely dreamy. I adooooooooored Nate. In other of her books, such as (for example) "Along for the ride" Eli (the guy) is fabulous, I loved him, and in "This Lullaby" Dexter was like a stalker for me, Sarah didnt create a guy so good as Nate. I would have to say that Nate is almost perfect. You will know when you read it.
One great book. It leaves you with a warm feeling inside, and in my own personal experience, I found the ending so heart warming that I cried. So, be sure to read this one. One fantastic book! You will absolutely love it.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024I enjoyed this story very much. I laughed,cried and held my breath when waiting to find out where Nate disappeared to. It was such an important reminder that famous no just the one you're born into. I think I'll read it again.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2012"What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed there, regardless."
Seventeen-year old Ruby has been living on her own for the past two months since her mother left. She has no idea where her mother went, and hasn't heard from her since. Ruby has been getting by, just barely but this is about to change when the landlords of the tiny house they've been renting, discover she's alone. They alert the authorities, and suddenly Ruby is taken in by her sister Cora. Things were different when Ruby's sister Cora still lived at home, she sort of made it her job to care for Ruby and protect her from their mother. However, Cora's been gone for ten years, left when she went off to college, and Ruby's heard little from her since. This does not make for a happy reunion because Ruby doesn't want to let anyone in, let anyone close. She certainly doesn't welcome her sister's assistance. Ruby would rather just rely on herself, that way she has no one else to let her down. So she makes a plan to just stick it out at her sister's until she turns eighteen, then she's out of there.
This story progresses nicely and I was seriously hooked watching the slow transformation of Ruby, seeing her thaw gradually. Helping with this is Jamie, Cora's sweet, generous, and very welcoming husband. You can't help but love him, he takes Ruby in with no questions or judgments made, always looking for the good, first, in people. Then there is Nate *sigh*. He is just the all-around popular, nice, HOT, next-door neighbor that takes to Ruby immediately, even with her reluctance. I didn't warm up to Cora at first, but then we learn some things about her, and I couldn't help but love her too.
A Sarah Dessen novel would not be complete without her collection of quirky secondary characters. She always amasses these unique individuals that just grow on you. Gervais, the twelve-year old genius who rides along with Nate and Ruby everyday to school. Quote on Gervais: "Gervais also lacked maturity, which meant he found things like burps and farts hysterical, and even funnier when they were his own. Put him in a small, enclosed space with two people every morning and there was no end to the potential for hilarity." (Yes, I was cracking up!) Olivia, a fellow student at Perkins Day, always talking on her phone in her free-time, but somehow becomes friends with Ruby. Then there's Harriet the caffeine-addict, and Reggie the vitamin seller. Even Roscoe, Cora and Jamie's dog, manages to get into Ruby's heart.
While, The Truth About Forever and Just Listen, are my favorite Sarah Dessen novels, this one is very good, too. A definite recommend for any contemporary romance/YA lover.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2012I love Sarah Dessen! She is one of my favorite authors and this is one of my favorite books written by her.
Ruby has had a hard lifeand when her mom suddenly disappears things totally change for her. She is sent off to live with her sister and a brother in law she didn't even know she had. They take her in with open arms and try to help her.
Family means so many different things for so many different people and now Ruby is about to find out what family means to her.
In "Lock and Key" Ruby has faced many challenges and learned to overcome them. I loved reading about how she deals with her problems. In this book I loved Jamie too because he was funny.
This book has soooooo many good qualities I could go on and on.
But if you haven't read "Lock and Key" yet, you really should!! :)
- Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2008I swear to you I'll probably never be asked to babysit again because I got so into this book one night, that I didn't even play with the 3 kids I was with. I cooked dinner, gave baths, and than I read! I loved this book soooo much. It was really amazing and I finished it in one night. I went straight through this 430 page book head first. I cannot wait until more of her books come out. I have only been a fan of Just Listen and Someone Like You and tried others of hers but couldn't get into it. Than I saw this book and fell in love. This is one of the most amazing books I have read. I would suggest it to anyone who is looking for a relaxing and laid back book to read.
Top reviews from other countries
- AlkaReviewed in India on April 27, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Fantastic book
- Tracey HincksReviewed in Canada on April 7, 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars An exiting look into a teenage life.
It will leave you turning page after page till it is done, I highly recommend it for teens and young adults. The main character may seem like a normal girl, but she has a story to tell.
- J.JessopReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2011
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!!!
I've only recently started reading Sarah Dessen books and this one has to be the best by far! Its about a teenage girl called Ruby whose living in poverty until the Honeycotts suss her out. She's then transformed into a world of luxury thanks to her long lost sister and brother in law wo live in a huge house and have everything you could possibly wish for. However all Ruby wants to do is escape and go back to her old yellow house.
Finally after making friends and feeling a little more settled she decides to stay and truely transforms her life for good, also discovering relationships and the importance of family.
This book kept me intrigued from start to finish, I loved reading about Ruby and trust me you wont be disappointed :)Dessen hits just the right notes with this novel. Enjoy!!
- AmyReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2012
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
I bought this book because I love to read and found this a very good book and would read it again. The only thing I found was that even though they are different books they more or less follow the same story but with different characters and settings.
- FaylsReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent older teen fiction (romance?)
This is not a genre I normally read, but I loved it. It's not a romance, but has a romance in it (well it is about a 17 year old girl after all), and I loved that her looks and his were barely mentioned. Ruby was from a neglectful home, and we experience her transition to a new life when she goes to live with her sister. I love how her experience was treated, focusing on how it affected her - rather than a ghoulish retelling of abuse relishing the delicious horror as some of these types of stories can be. Ruby has the experience that many of us have at one time or another - of seeing herself more clearly by seeing it on another person. Both the story and the way it was told gripped my attention thoroughly. Highly recommended for ages 14+