Way Down Deep

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.