Diamond Ruby

Twitter's a funny thing. I first read about this book on Twitter, in the conversations between other authors and readers. Soon I was following this author ([...]) and the praise for the book continued. I finally bought it, expecting to read a tale of a gal who played baseball against Babe Ruth. What I got was a book that sucked me into its world. At once thoughtful, informative and entertaining, Diamond Ruby lives in a very real cross section of 1920s America. Filled with great period details, Wallace spins a yarn that ranges from the tragic to the triumphant. Some chapters had me grimacing while others left me with a big stupid grin on my face. One chapter in particular was absolutely exhilarating in pace, detail and service to the character - I was so enmeshed in Ruby's story that I shared her experience on the pitcher's mound. It was, quite simply, the most fun I've had reading a book in a long, long time. Thanks, Twitter, for pointing me to this gem of a novel.

To say I'm surprised that I really liked this book, let alone loved it, is an understatement. I'm not a sports fan and I don't know diddly about baseball. But I do love a well-told story, and let me just say that Diamond Ruby is a wonderful story that's very well told indeed! Ruby stole my heart--a bright and talented and sympathetic character, she beat the odds on a multitude of levels. Set against the backdrop of 1920s New York, this novel is rich in history, it is also human and heartfelt and uplifting. I'm particularly fond of stories where triumph rises from the ruins of adversity, and Diamond Ruby is just that. And more. Oh, so much more. Bravo, Mr. Wallace! Highly recommended for YA and adult readers alike.

Every so often, I open a book and almost fall into it, so authentic are the setting and dialog. Characters aren't merely characters, the roars and whispers of their lives billow from the pages as they pull me in to join them. "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella is one such book -- and Joseph Wallace's "Diamond Ruby" is another. We join Ruby Thomas, age 7, and her family along the third-base line of Ebbets Field. It is 1913, and Casey Stengel is at bat. Wallace whisks us to the ballpark and surrounds us with the sights, sounds and smells of this brand-new park on a long-ago day, so that we see and feel the events of the afternoon as if we, too, were 7 again. If you've read the product page, you know that there's much more to the story than this. Historical baseball players appear, and Ruby must take on adult responsibilities before her time. Somehow, though, this story remains luminous, in large part because of the skill and compassion with which Wallace has created Ruby. This is Wallace's sixth book about baseball, and his first work of fiction. His knowledge of and love for the game give this book a sturdy skeleton. Descriptions of events are written with care and accuracy, but Wallace uses facts as supports to let the story of Ruby soar. He drew inspiration for Ruby from the life of Jackie Mitchell, and says he decided to write a story similar to hers -- "the way it should have happened." Ruby's personality and life, though, are largely Wallace's creation. He immersed himself in dozens of journals, magazine articles and autobiographies written by women in the 1920s as part of his research for this book. He uses their self-awareness and determination to make a difference to imbue Ruby's character with what her contemporaries would have recognized as spunk, gumption and stick-to-itiveness. Wallace's non-fiction baseball books include: "Baseball: 365 Days" (an official anthology of archival images from Major League Baseball); "Grand Old Game: 365 Days of Baseball" (produced with the National Baseball Hall of Fame); "The Autobiography of Baseball"; and "The Baseball Anthology." Diamond Ruby is available as a book: Diamond Ruby: A Novel And as a Kindle download:Diamond Ruby: A Novel Shoeless Joe also is available as a book:Shoeless Joe And as a Kindle download: Shoeless Joe

Set against the backdrop of New York in the 1920s, Joseph Wallace's novel DIAMOND RUBY tells the story of Ruby Thomas, who at 17 loses most of her family in a matter of weeks and is left to raise her young nieces alone. With work difficult to find and starvation constantly knocking at the door, Ruby does anything she can think of to keep body and soul together. All her life, she has worked secretly to perfect her unusual skill: throwing a baseball faster and more accurately than anyone else. Finding ways to make that skill marketable leads her first to Coney Island, then on to professional baseball. If Ruby is a 1920s David, then sexism, anti-semitism, organized crime, the Ku Klux Klan, and baseball itself are Goliath. Armed with a stone, she can put squirrel stew on the table. Armed with a baseball, she can conquer New York itself. Wallace's story is rich and textured. Ruby and her nieces, in particular, are beautifully drawn, each commanding a unique voice as she contributes to the story. The novel is full of strong women: Ruby's suffragist mother; her wise and compassionate sister-in-law Evie; her friend and fellow athlete, Helen; and her co-worker and companion, Tania. Each contributes in important ways to Ruby's journey. The author's love of New York and Brooklyn shines through as he writes the story of a city that can take a series of blows as tough as punches from Jack Dempsey, who plays a part in the story, and come back better and stronger. I don't pretend to know baseball all that well, but it's clear that Joseph Wallace does. When he writes about the game and brings its history to life, the passion he has already demonstrated in several non-fiction books about the history of baseball shines through. DIAMOND RUBY is a page-turner. I sat down with it after lunch on a Sunday afternoon and read until I turned the last page, long past time for dinner. I've already bought a second copy to lend to friends and given it as a gift to two other people. Read it; then tell someone else to. They'll thank you.

Bought it, opened it, didn't stop reading until I'd finished it. A page-turner with characters I cared about, and ideas that matter deeply. Rollicking fun, too. A love song to baseball, old New York and brother(sister)hood.