Saving Ruth by Zoe Fishman...R&G!

I have been in all out book mode lately.  Something about warmer nights that stay light a littler later keeps me up turning pages way too long into the night.  It might be because I have been reading some outstanding books lately too.  My latest?  Saving Ruth by Zoe Fishman.  Here is the scoop....

When Ruth returns home to the South for the summer after her freshman year at college, a near tragedy pushes her to uncover family truths and take a good look at the woman she wants to become.

Growing up in Alabama, all Ruth Wasserman wanted was to be a blond Baptist cheerleader. But as a curly-haired Jew with a rampant sweet tooth and a smart mouth, this was an impossible dream. Not helping the situation was her older brother, David—a soccer star whose good looks, smarts, and popularity reigned at school and at home. College provided an escape route and Ruth took it.

Now home for the summer, she's back lifeguarding and coaching alongside David, and although the job is the same, nothing else is. She's a prisoner of her low self-esteem and unhealthy relationship with food, David is closed off and distant in a way he's never been before, and their parents are struggling with the reality of an empty nest. When a near drowning happens on their watch, a storm of repercussions forces Ruth and David to confront long-ignored truths about their town, their family, and themselves.

I really enjoyed the author's style.  The characters were all incredibly real.  They were all flawed in a way that made me want to befriend them or at the very least be rooting for them from the sidelines.  I think Fishman does a great job of exploring family dynamics (the perceived "perfect child" vs "the troublemaker") and I was actually very touched by how the characters of David and Ruth interacted with each other.  The fighting and awkwardness and hurt feelings are something many siblings feel toward one another and Fishman nailed this. 

The character of Ruth was my favorite and I worried for her as well as laughed over her sharp tongue and observations.  When I closed the book after the last page I wanted to know what happened next.  Not in a bad way but in a way that makes me hope Zoe Fishman will write a sequel...pretty please??

Pick up this book today on Amazon....

I am so pleased to tell you that the publisher is giving one lucky RBM reader a copy of Saving Ruth. Thanks so much to the sponsor and here is how to enter... a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It