The characters are memorable and the story is such fun! Read moreĭallas and Florida - the Trouble Twins, as the couple who run the orphanage call them - are taken in by an older couple, who want young companions on the canoe and bird-watching trips they're planning. Lots of short chapters- and although it looks like a long book, it's a really fast read! I would recommend this story to kids in third grade and up. I laughed my way through it and can still hear Florida’s voice ringing in my ears (maggoty, wretched, etc.).

Will Dallas and Florida change their ways? Will Sairy and Tiller be able to handle the destruction that comes with the “terrible two”? Will the Trepids finally be free of Dallas and Florida? They bring them home to Ruby Holler, which is out in the middle of nowhere and filled with animals, trees, rivers, hills and all kinds of wonderful outdoor sights. One day an older couple named Tiller and Sairy arrives at the orphanage to get two kids to go on vacation with them, and they select Dallas and Florida. Other families that have taken Florida and Dallas in for a while, but they are too much trouble for everyone and end up being returned to the Trepids. Dallas and Florida get in a lot of trouble because they're always breaking some rule or another. The Trepids have a gazillion rules about all the things kids can’t do while they live there. They live in an orphanage run by the Trepids, a couple who can’t stand children.

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech is realistic fiction at its best! Dallas and his sister, Florida, are twins who have had a very rough life.

Ruby holler book review