stapocsi, mrs. brown, Lock and Key

Dessen, Sarah. Lock and Key. Viking: New York, 2008.

Her mother had left her. She had not seen her sister in years. Her father left her when she was a toddler. Ruby was underage and thought she could make it on her own. One day the landlords came into the apartment to find the place a mess. They asked Ruby where her mother was but she could not lie anymore. She was alone. Little did she know, her sister Cora still cared about her and found out that Ruby needed someone. She took her in. Cora’s lifestyle was different then the way Ruby was used to living. She had the perfect life. Ruby does not want to commit to this new life and goes back to the apartment a lot. She always keeps the key to it with her. Ruby ends up having to go to a new school, making new friends, and learning valuable lessons. He helps her out with everything. Ruby is not used to people caring about her. She has to learn to let people in to her life because not everyone is going to hurt her. Will she learn this valuable lesson? Will she give up on her old life?
The setting is at the school, Cora’s house, and at the old apartment. This is important because depending on which location it is at in the story, it sets the mood of what is about to happen.
Sarah Dessen’s style is very easy to read. There is some flashbacks used to show her old life and how she used to live and this was a very effective way to write because it gave you a lot of information that helped you understand the story better.
I think that this story was very good. This could actually happen to someone in real life and that made me more interested in it. I would recommend this book to a girl of any age. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen is a great book and I think many people should read it.