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Title details for The Ruby In the Smoke by Philip Pullman - Available

The Ruby In the Smoke

#1 in series

by Philip Pullman
Anton Lesser
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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In search of clues to the mystery of her father's death, 16-year-old Sally Lockhart ventures into the shadowy underworld of Victorian London. Pursued by villains at every turn, the intrepid Sally finally uncovers two dark mysteries—and realizes that she herself is the key to both.

"In Dickensian fashion, Pullman tells the story of 16-year-old Sally Lockhart, who becomes involved in a deadly web of events as she searches for a mysterious ruby. The novel is a page turner, peopled with despicable hags, forthright heroes, and children living on the underbelly of 19th-century London. The story's events are exciting, with involved plotting. Settings and characterizations are exquisitely drawn. The first entry in a planned trilogy."—(starred) Booklist. Reading level: 6.7.  

  • Creators

  • Series

    Sally Lockhart

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    June 8, 2004

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739330210
      • File size: 185403 KB
      • Duration: 06:26:15

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 750
    • Text Difficulty: 3-4

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Philip Pullman is in top form with this riveting YA mystery full of all the underworld villainy and Victorian intrigue that 1870s London can muster. Narrator Anton Lesser is a marvel delivering the voices of a vengeful hag with oversized dentures, street-tough children, dazed opium smokers, and 16-year-old Sally Lockhart and her array of intriguing, steadfast friends. Lesser deftly navigates London's many accents as Pullman's quick plot turns from terror to humor. THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE is the first in the Sally Lockhart Trilogy, and Anton Lesser is cast to play all of the trilogy's characters and perils. K.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2005 ALA Notable Recording (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 3, 1988
      This comical adventure about a girl who longs to follow in her father's footsteps crackles with Pullman's (The Golden Compass; Clockwork) usual flair. Lila desperately wants to be a firework-maker like her widower father. Although he has raised her amid the dancing sparks, he wants her to have a husband rather than a vocation. With the help of her entrepreneurial friend Chulak, the personal servant to the king's talking white elephant, Lila tricks her father into revealing the secret to his profession, then bravely departs to retrieve the royal sulphur from Razvani the Fire-Fiend at the heart of a volcano. Pullman marries elements of fairy tale with slapstick humor as Lila outwits a vaudevillian band of pirates and scales jagged mountains on her quest. Gallagher's (Blue Willow, reviewed above) softly focused graphite drawings lend magical mystery as Lila fearfully contemplates the dancing fire imps at Mount Merapi and emphasize the absurdity as the elephant, his flanks emblazoned with advertisements, kneels before the Goddess of the Lake in order to save Lila from Razvani. If the tale, first published in Britain in 1995, isn't as polished as Pullman's other works, it's worth the trip just for the climactic fireworks scene in which Lila gets to show her stuff. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) FYI: As of September, Pullman's Sally Lockhart Trilogy is being reissued in paperback: The Ruby in the Smoke; The Shadow in the North; and The Tiger in the Well; as well as The Tin Princess, which features characters from the trilogy.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:750
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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