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    Way Down Deep
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    Way Down Deep
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    Way Down Deep
    Ebook179 pages1 hour

    Way Down Deep

    By Ruth White

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Although Ruby seemed to just appear out of thin air on the steps of the courthouse on the first day of summer in 1944, no one in Way Down Deep, West Virginia, ever worried too much about where the toddler came from. They figured that if Ruby's people were dumb enough to lose something as valuable as a child, then that was their problem. So even though Ruby can't help but wonder where she came from, she has led a joyful and carefree life in Way Down Deep, loved and watched over by Miss Arbutus – proprietor of The Roost, the local boardinghouse – the residents of The Roost, and the rest of the town. But when Ruby is twelve, a new family moves to Way Down Deep, and they inadvertently provide enough clues about Ruby's past that she is able to find her own people. Ruby travels from Way Down Deep to the top of Yonder Mountain to learn who she really is – only to find that she is bound to Way Down Deep by something even stronger than family ties: love.

    With a touch of fairy-tale magic and a lot of heart, Ruth White explores just what it is that makes a place truly home.

    Way Down Deep is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMar 20, 2007
    ISBN9780374706685
    Unavailable
    Way Down Deep
    Author

    Ruth White

    Ruth White was born and raised in the 1940s and 1950s in and around the coal-mining town of Whitewood, Virginia. "My fondest memories are of playing in the hills and creeks, and of family read-alouds, which we had almost every day. Before I started school, I knew that I would be a writer someday, and I never wavered from that goal. What I did not know was that I would be writing about those days in which I was living. I had visions of stories involving princesses and swashbuckling heroes, lovesick cowgirls and faraway places with strange-sounding names. It was only after I grew up and away from the Appalachian region that I realized what a wealth of unique story material I had stored up in my memories during those early years, and therein lay my greatest asset as a writer." "My sisters and I were not only avid readers but also great mimics. We had no television, but we had the movie theaters close by, and we were privileged to see the latest movies from Hollywood, which we would later act out to one another. We would write down all the lines we could remember from a good movie and learn them for our own entertainment. We also picked up every song that came along and developed a remarkable repertoire of folk, country, blue-grass, spiritual, and popular music. To this day we know the words to thousands of forgotten songs. We are a wealth of music trivia! I often use the lyrics of some of these songs in my books." "Upon graduation from high school, I had a rare opportunity to go to college. It was almost as if the fates took over for me at this point and manipulated me right into a good education and preparation for a future career. There was a beautiful little college down in North Carolina called Montreat, which I still dream about and think of sometimes with a feeling much like homesickness. Going there was a turning point of my life. It lifted me out of the only life I had ever known and introduced me to a wider world. From there I went on to Pfeiffer College, married, had a child, and settled down to being a mother and teacher." "But the memories of the hills did not leave me. They did, in fact, haunt me, so that I began writing down some of those memories, and from these writings my novels sprouted, took root, and grew like living plants. They have gone through many revisions, on paper as well as in my mind, but what they represent for me is a record not only of my past but of the Appalachian region." "It is important to me that the children of today read these books and feel they can escape for just a little while into another place and time which once was very real. I want them not only to enjoy my stories and my particular style but also to feel what I used to feel when I was in the habit of reading every book I could find -- 'This feels right. I love this. Someday I will write books like this.' " Ruth White holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Library Science. She worked in schools as both a teacher and a librarian in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia before moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she writes full time.

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    Reviews for Way Down Deep

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    • 5/5
      Outstanding Appalachian story.
    • 4/5
      In the summer of 1944, a red-headed, curly-haired toddler mysteriously appeared on the courthouse steps in Way Down Deep, WV. No trace of how she got there or to whom she belonged was ever found.

      For 10 years Ruby June has lived a happy, comfortable life, well loved and cared for by Miss Arbutus Ward, owner of the local boardinghouse. The arrival of a new family in town sets in motion the unraveling of Ruby's past and the mystery of her appearance. In the process, readers are introduced to a colorful cast of characters who not only add to the rich Appalachian tone of the novel, but also lace it together with sweet humor, timeless truths, and expert foreshadowing.

      At first thought to be the senile ramblings of Mr. Bird Reeder, a former resident of Yonder Mountain, VA, bits of information lead Ruby to discover that she might be the child thought to have been carried off by a panther years earlier. She learns of her parents' death when she was a baby, that she has family living on top of the mountain, and of her mystical connections to Miss Ward.

      Captivating and thoughtful on many levels, White's novel offers humor, mystery, and a feel-good ending that a multitude of readers will find satisfying "way down deep."
    • 3/5
      I've read many of Ruth White's books, and have enjoyed them all. This is probably the sweetest one. A little fantasy thrown in makes it a delight of a story.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this whimsical story of a young girl named Ruby June, who mysteriously appeared in the Appalachian town of Way Down Deep as a child. The story follows Ruby as she discovers her past and opens to the future.
    • 2/5
      While I enjoyed previous books written by this author, I was a tad disappointed in this.Keep track of the many characters presented a problem.Ruby June resides in a tiny village named Way Down Deep. When a baby, she mysteriously was found on the courthouse steps. Take in by the kind and quirky Miss Alburtus, who runs the local boarding house, we are introduced to a host of down home, kind hearted, quirky folk.Now, 13, Ruby is happy and is well liked by all members of Way Down Deep. When a new family move to town, they have information which leads to finding Ruby's long-lost grandmother.Taken from Miss Alburtus and plucked in the far off lonely woods with a cantankerous grandmother brings depression for Ruby and a longing of the town folk for Ruby to return.Some of the passages were laugh out loud and highly creative and thus the book marginally redeems itself. But the attempt at too much creativity undermined the good writing and I give this one a guarded two stars.
    • 4/5
      Way Down Deep is just quirky enough to edge outside the realm of realistic fiction. Ruby is a toddler found outside the courthouse in 1944 and taken in by the owner of a boarding house, Miss Arbutus. Ruby has a rich, full life in Way Down Deep, but she has always been curious about her people. An inept bank robber comes to town and is befriended in his troubles with the townspeople. The robber knows of Ruby and helps lead her back to her roots. But it is not the happy world of Way Down Deep; instead, Ruby goes to live with a deeply unhappy grandmother, caring for her even though the grandmother is as mean to her as a grass snake. Finally, Ruby cannot take any more and decides to leave. Faced with yet another person leaving her, the grandmother resolves to change and to find a way to go with Ruby to Way Down Deep.
    • 5/5
      No one knows how Ruby June ended up in Way Down Deep, West Virginia. She appeared on the court house steps one day when she was about two years old. Ruby has lived the rest of her 13 years being raised in the town's boarding house and everyone in Way Down Deep thinks the world of her. When a new family moves into town, clues about Ruby's true identity begin to leak out and Ruby soon finds herself wondering where she really belongs.I was so excited when I heard Ruth White had I new book out. I loved Belle Prater's Boy and The Search for Belle Prater and I LOVED this book!!! It is historical fiction, but almost has a fantasy feel about it - not just another time, but truly another place. All the inhabitants of Way Down Deep are characters in every sense of the word and I hope Ruth White writes more about them.
    • 4/5
      Girl appears in small southern town and gets taken in at boarding house. Discovers her real family is a grumpy grandma from another town and has to live with her. Funny, heartwarming, kind of old fashioned. For fans of Ida B, Penderwicks, Winn Dixie.