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babyruth510's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this novel about a NY girl who plays professional baseball in the 1920s. It was a fascinating look at life and baseball in NYC in the twenties.
sparklingreader's review against another edition
4.0
All right, I will be the first person to admit I am not a huge fan of baseball. And maybe that’s the reason I had trouble getting “into” this book. But, I will also admit, that by the end of it, I was cheering for Ruby and really enjoying what I read.
The book is about a young woman growing up in 1920s Brooklyn. She is orphaned at age 13 by the death of her parents during the 1918 Spanish influenza. Her sister-in-law also dies leaving her to take care of her two young nieces. To say life was difficult would be an understatement. But due to a “deformity” of long arms, Ruby discovers that she is an excellent pitcher (via her need to feed the family by hurling stones at squirrels and pigeons). Though her adventures, she meets Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey and gets a glimpse at the good side of life. But through her addicted brother, she also meets rum runners and the seedier side of life. Unfortunately, it is mostly the latter and not the former. But with her friend’s help, Ruby and her nieces climb from the depths of despair to the top of the heap.
The book is excellently written and evokes the era in such a way that you feel as though you are really there with Ruby. If you like baseball even a little or historical literary novels, pick up Diamond Ruby and give it a try. It’s a definite home run.
The book is about a young woman growing up in 1920s Brooklyn. She is orphaned at age 13 by the death of her parents during the 1918 Spanish influenza. Her sister-in-law also dies leaving her to take care of her two young nieces. To say life was difficult would be an understatement. But due to a “deformity” of long arms, Ruby discovers that she is an excellent pitcher (via her need to feed the family by hurling stones at squirrels and pigeons). Though her adventures, she meets Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey and gets a glimpse at the good side of life. But through her addicted brother, she also meets rum runners and the seedier side of life. Unfortunately, it is mostly the latter and not the former. But with her friend’s help, Ruby and her nieces climb from the depths of despair to the top of the heap.
The book is excellently written and evokes the era in such a way that you feel as though you are really there with Ruby. If you like baseball even a little or historical literary novels, pick up Diamond Ruby and give it a try. It’s a definite home run.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
this is a story about a young girl, ruby, growing up in brooklyn circa 1925 that has unusually long arms. because of this, she is an extraordinary pitcher.
ruby's young life is marred by a spanish flu epidemic (which takes her mother, father and a brother) and a subway accident that claims her beautiful sister-in-law. this leaves ruby, age 17, in the custody of her brother that has long gone checked out emotionally after losing his wife. his two young girls, amanda and allie, become ruby's responsibility.
ruby takes any job she can until she decides to exploit her unusually long arms by joining a circus sideshow act. the director says no go, but amanda convinces him to go outdoors so her aunt can show her "other" talent. and so begins a new sideshow act of superfast pitching.
ruby crosses the paths of the likes of babe ruth, lou gehrig and jack dempsey. she also crosses the paths of members of the KKK and an underground gambling/rumrunners ring.
interesting storylines, but it feels slow in the middle of the novel.
this is based on the life of a real life baseball player jackie mitchell that was banned from baseball after striking out babe ruth and gehrig during an exhibition game.
ruby's young life is marred by a spanish flu epidemic (which takes her mother, father and a brother) and a subway accident that claims her beautiful sister-in-law. this leaves ruby, age 17, in the custody of her brother that has long gone checked out emotionally after losing his wife. his two young girls, amanda and allie, become ruby's responsibility.
ruby takes any job she can until she decides to exploit her unusually long arms by joining a circus sideshow act. the director says no go, but amanda convinces him to go outdoors so her aunt can show her "other" talent. and so begins a new sideshow act of superfast pitching.
ruby crosses the paths of the likes of babe ruth, lou gehrig and jack dempsey. she also crosses the paths of members of the KKK and an underground gambling/rumrunners ring.
interesting storylines, but it feels slow in the middle of the novel.
this is based on the life of a real life baseball player jackie mitchell that was banned from baseball after striking out babe ruth and gehrig during an exhibition game.
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
2.0
Beautiful cover, just OK writing. I picked this up because the main character is a teenage girl, but surprisingly it turns out to be too much of a guys book.
First, I am annoyed by historical fiction that is populated by famous characters; it's just not real to me. In this case it is Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey that have big roles (but plenty other famous people make an appearance too).
Second, I got tired of all the baseball in the second half; it got repetitive and it didn't help me know Ruby or her story. It was like the author just used this character as an excuse to write about Babe Ruth and this time period. I hated the chapter that is about Jack Dempsey's fight with some other boxer.
The worst is that at around page 150 things got over the top and stayed that way. So many bad guys wanted to beat up Ruby--bootleggers, the KKK, gangsters, gamblers...How many bad guys does this story need?! It only needed the one gambler/fixer who was forcing Ruby to lose games in order to win bets--that would have been threat enough.
The author's passion for baseball history came through, but I felt like he was not good at writing a woman character. She was unrealistic, especially when Ruby talked with her (under-developed character) friend, Helen. Women don't talk like that, even back then. I know the author was trying to make Ruby look tough, and show that women can be smart and skilled, but some things were just impossible: like at the beginning when Ruby worked on Coney Island, pitching 300 balls a day on only 5 hours of sleep and not doing anything else? And Ruby, at 17 and 18 years old, never had any romance or love seeking thoughts at all. She was like a robot. She pushed back and defended herself when she needed to but I got no real emotion from her, except that she loooved baseball.
I could be more picky about the writing, but I'm not going to, because the setting was written well and I did enjoy the first 100 pages of this 460-page novel.
Well, if you really love baseball and historical fiction, you would probably like this book.
First, I am annoyed by historical fiction that is populated by famous characters; it's just not real to me. In this case it is Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey that have big roles (but plenty other famous people make an appearance too).
Second, I got tired of all the baseball in the second half; it got repetitive and it didn't help me know Ruby or her story. It was like the author just used this character as an excuse to write about Babe Ruth and this time period. I hated the chapter that is about Jack Dempsey's fight with some other boxer.
The worst is that at around page 150 things got over the top and stayed that way. So many bad guys wanted to beat up Ruby--bootleggers, the KKK, gangsters, gamblers...How many bad guys does this story need?! It only needed the one gambler/fixer who was forcing Ruby to lose games in order to win bets--that would have been threat enough.
The author's passion for baseball history came through, but I felt like he was not good at writing a woman character. She was unrealistic, especially when Ruby talked with her (under-developed character) friend, Helen. Women don't talk like that, even back then. I know the author was trying to make Ruby look tough, and show that women can be smart and skilled, but some things were just impossible: like at the beginning when Ruby worked on Coney Island, pitching 300 balls a day on only 5 hours of sleep and not doing anything else? And Ruby, at 17 and 18 years old, never had any romance or love seeking thoughts at all. She was like a robot. She pushed back and defended herself when she needed to but I got no real emotion from her, except that she loooved baseball.
I could be more picky about the writing, but I'm not going to, because the setting was written well and I did enjoy the first 100 pages of this 460-page novel.
Well, if you really love baseball and historical fiction, you would probably like this book.
dctigue's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this up at the library knowing nothing about it. I truly enjoyed it.
healingtothemax's review against another edition
4.0
Proof of the power of the "hand-sell" - a local indie bookstore owner during the course of chatting with me about possible picks for our book club suggested this title by a local author in his first fiction foray - what a treat! Our group enjoyed it and hope it gets turned into a movie, big or cable, while we wait on his follow-up book adventure starring Ruby and her "girls" in Hollywood. Appropriate to share with mom (or dad) since the NYC Roaring Twenties setting really leaps off the page and opens up lots of discussion between what the sport & life was like "back then" in comparison to "the now." Enjoy!
chicagoliz's review against another edition
4.0
i really enjoyed this book, and I appreciate that overall, Mr. Wallace seems to do his research and gives us some good information about times and issues while giving us a good story (I also enjoyed his other novel, Invasive Species). There was, however, one error that threw me out of the story so thoroughly that I couldn't go back to reading it for a half an hour -- on page 361, I read the following line: "He lived on the South Side, not far from Wrigley Field." Oh, the travesty! Any Chicagoans will be upset to read this, and I would think someone with a good knowledge of baseball would see this error right away, so perhaps this was an unintentional error, although I don't know how it got by the editors. I assume he meant Comiskey, rather than Wrigley, as it would make more sense, but it's also possible he accidentally wrote "South" when he meant "North." I just hate errors like this, because they make me skeptical of other information in the book (even though it's a novel, it's historical fiction, and when there are purported facts, they should be accurate.)
Otherwise, I liked this story, and I liked Ruby. There is a note wherein the author stated he was working on a sequel, and if he ever does finish it, I would read it.
Otherwise, I liked this story, and I liked Ruby. There is a note wherein the author stated he was working on a sequel, and if he ever does finish it, I would read it.
erinepeterson's review against another edition
4.0
It happened to be right around the 4th of July that I picked this book up. I wanted to read something that optimized the American traditions, something that was truly patriotic, and I found that in Diamond Ruby. Ruby is a girl who has been thrown into the role of sole provider for her family after a tragic set of events. This 17 year old girl is now responsible for her alcoholic brother and his two young daughters in the tumultuous 1920's. This is a story of the strength of a woman who defied the times and the opinions of others to succeed in a man's sport- baseball. Ruby takes us from a small booth on Coney Island, to the house that Ruth built in her rise to fame. At first I thought that, though the story is enjoyable, the premise was a little far fetched, but I started googling around and found out that in fact, there was a 17 year old girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game in 1931. Ruby's story is loosely based around that historical incident. Pretty cool.
rcjorban's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this book. The plot was slightly convoluted but it was an interesting and engaging look at a time period I don't know much about. I like stories that evoke an era and this one definitely does this. I'm looking forward to reading the follow up novel.