Robin and Ruby [Paperback]

K.M. Soehnlein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2011

In his award-winning bestseller The World of Normal Boys, K.M. Soehnlein introduced readers to the richly compelling voice of teenager Robin MacKenzie. In Robin and Ruby, he revisits Robin and his younger sister, masterfully depicting the turbulence of the mid-1980s--and that fleeting time between youth and adulthood, when everything we will become can be shaped by one unforgettable weekend.

At twenty-years-old, Robin MacKenzie is waiting for his life to start. Waiting until his summer working at a Philly restaurant is over and he's back with his boyfriend Peter. . .until the spring semester when he'll travel to London for an acting program. . .until the moment when the confidence he fakes starts to feel real.

Then, one hot June weekend, Robin gets dumped by his boyfriend and quickly hits the road with his best friend George to find his teenaged sister, Ruby, who's vanished from a party at the Jersey Shore. For years, his friendship with George has been the most solid thing in Robin's life. But lately there are glimpses of another George, someone Robin barely knows and can no longer take for granted.

Ruby is on an adventure of her own, dressing in black, declaring herself an atheist, pulling away from the boyfriend she doesn't love--not the way she loves the bands whose fractured songs are the soundtrack to her life. Then a chance encounter puts Ruby in pursuit of a seductive but troubled boy who might be the key to her happiness, or a disaster waiting to happen.

As their paths converge, Robin and Ruby confront the sadness of their shared past and rebuild the bonds that still run deep. In prose that is lyrical, compulsively readable, and exquisitely honest, K.M. Soehnlein brilliantly captures a family redefining itself and explores those moments common to us all--when freedom bumps up against responsibility, when sex blurs the line between friendship and love, and when what you stand for becomes more important than who you were raised to be.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Robin, the protagonist of Soehnlein’s well-received The World of Normal Boys (2000) is now 20 and has just broken up with his lover, Peter, when his younger sister, Ruby, goes missing. Robin immediately sets off for the Jersey shore in search of her, accompanied by his longtime best friend, George. The irony is that Robin is in search of himself, too, and of the truth about his deepening romantic feelings for George, who is African American and is on his own journey toward political activism. Meanwhile, Ruby has re-connected with a troubled, drug-abusing boy from her past. So much drama, all of it overlaid—it being the early 1980s—with the desperate fear of AIDS. The issue-laden story alternates between Robin and Ruby, whose actions sometimes seem stage-managed by the author in an attempt to heighten the drama (of course, Robin does aspire to be an actor). Nevertheless, readers will appreciate the nicely realized sense of time and place and—perhaps despite themselves—will also develop a sneaking fondness for the characters. --Michael Cart --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books; Reprint edition (March 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758232195
• ISBN-13: 978-0758232199
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #537,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

K.M. Soehnlein grew up in suburban New Jersey, the setting for his bestselling, award-winning debut novel, "The World of Normal Boys" and its 2010 sequel, "Robin and Ruby." After working various odd jobs for years, the success of his fiction allowed him to focus on writing, editing and teaching. He now lives in San Francisco, the city that provides the backdrop for his novel "You Can Say You Knew Me When," which takes place during two vibrant eras, the heyday of the Beat Generation and the early years of the Internet. Soehnlein's journalism and essays have appeared in various publications and anthologies. He has been awarded the Lambda Literary Award and the Henfield/Transatlantic Review Prize. He teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco. Visit him online at http://www.kmsoehnlein.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars SO GLAD TO SEE ROBIN, September 3, 2010

By 

gracereader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robin and Ruby (Hardcover)

I don't know that any of his books will ever be as good as The World of Normal Boys. That said, when I saw the title Robin and Ruby, I remembered those names and I am just so glad to see Robing McKenzie back,on any terms. Since I read the first book a decade ago, I've always wondered what happened to him and wanted more.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robin and Ruby by K.M. Soehnlein, June 19, 2010

By 

Elisa (Italy) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Robin and Ruby (Hardcover)

This novel follows Robin, from The World of Normal Boys, in that phase in life when you change from boy to man; only that Robin has already had that change, he is not a normal 20 years old guy, and so his summer spent waiting tables in an upscale Philadelphia restaurant is not careless and light as for any other normal boy.

I wondered why K.M. Soehnlein chose to set the story in the middle of the '80, and other than the obvious reason that, being a sequel of a previous story set in the same period, it had to be, I think there are also not so obvious reasons, like, for example, the fact that 20 years old boys in the '80 were maybe still "innocent", or at least more than today. There are social tensions that now are almost non-existent, or at least not openly acknowledged; AIDS was still an almost unknown threat, still the "gay cancer", if you were not gay it was not your problem; having a interracial relationship was still almost a taboo, something daring and brazen.

The story follows both Robin than Ruby, and they are at two different moments in life, but to both of them is asked to take a decision, an important one for their future. Robin is living an adult life, he has a steady boyfriend, plans for the future, and obligations; Ruby instead is on the brink of adulthood, still a teenager but with the urge, and the desire, to leave that part of her life behind. In a way Ruby wants to be an adult and Robin instead wants to re-catch his lost teen years. Robin is dumped by his grown boyfriend Peter, but I think he is not so much upset by that; he has George in his life, his long lasting best friend George, someone who was not ready to be something more when they were teenagers, but who is now all grown up, and a living temptation. Robin wants to have another chance with George, but not in a serious way, he wants the carelessly feelings of having a boyfriend, of going and making out, without the oppressive weight of "adult" sex, with the danger of the virus.

In a way, this is not a coming of age story, since Robin doesn't want to take that step into adulthood, he wants more time, he wants to enjoy the thoughtlessness of having a relationship with someone like George, someone he can trust, since George was always there, always a good friend, and for sure not someone who wants from Robin more than Robin is ready to give. Even with sex, Robin and George are behaving more like teenagers than adults, while the real teenager, Ruby, is testing the water with real sex. At some point Robin will be ready to go further on, maybe with George, maybe with someone else (I hope not, I think George is good for Robin), and maybe Ruby will regret those years when everything was still so scaring and unknown.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, realistic characters coming of age in the 1980's., April 18, 2010

By 

Bob Lind "camelwest" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Robin and Ruby (Hardcover)

In this highly-anticipated sequel to his acclaimed "The World of Normal Boys," Soehnlein revisits Robin McKenzie, now age 20, and his younger sister, Ruby. Although their dysfunctional family is less of an influence as they enter adulthood, the "baggage" of their childhood (and their parents' subsequent divorce) is still apparent in their lack of confidence and self-worth in dealing with difficult situations. Being dumped by his boyfriend, a former teacher of his, Robin turns for comfort to his longtime friend (and current roommate) George, and finds himself looking at him in a way he never considered before. Meanwhile, Ruby - who was always the "good girl" in high school, likely the seemingly trouble-seeking Robin - has become a moody, Goth-garbed young lady, who agonizes over how to break up with Calvin, a rather pompous and egotistical guy for whom she feels no love and little attraction. On a trip with him to the Jersey shore, she encounters Chris, an insecure boy she had dated in high school and - very uncharacteristically for her - takes off with him, causing Calvin and her brother to search for her among the nightclubs and partying young people in the area.

Although I had not read the original novel, I did greatly enjoy this well-written and introspective novel, which did a fantastic job of capturing the 1980's mindset (including attitudes about the developing AIDS epidemic) and pop culture, as well as the coming of age of two young people who never felt completely comfortable with themselves. The vividly-drawn supporting characters will remind you a bit of younger versions of the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore," and the book made them far more empathetic. Skillfully done, much recommended, I give this book five sea salt-crusted stars out of five!

- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine