Ruby Redfort Dossier

8/2/2019 Ruby Redfort Dossier

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Ruby Redfort Look into My Eyes by Lauren Child * C a n d l e w i C k P r e s s

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UNCOVERED!

Super top-secret briefng.Hands o , kiddo.*

* i.e., no nobodies peeking.


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An utterly special message

from me, Clarice Bean. . . .


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FROM THE DESK OF CLARICE BEAN

This is me, Clarice Bean. And you will know,

if you know me,that I am exceptionordinarily keen on the Ruby Redfort books, which everyone has heard of even if

they live on Mars (which no one does at the moment).Patricia F. Maplin Stacey wrote seven Ruby books

but has stopped writing due to being aged and not with it.The good news is that Lauren Child is much youngerand is going to take over and write the new Ruby Redfort

books if she pulls up her socks and gets on with it.

The rst book will be called,

It is going to be published in actual hardback in March 2012, and it is the rst oneof six books all in the same series.

The thing I love about the Ruby Redfort series is that it is always excitingand quite impossible to imagine how Ruby will get out of whatever death-defyingsituation she is in.Mostly I spend the whole time behind a chair or grabbing a cushion.

If you like death-defying situations as well as gadgets and a girl who is more toughthan an archish villain, then you will love Ruby Redfort.If you dont then you are probably an Armpit.Which is what Ruby calls people who are dreadfully dreary.Someone who is an Armpit is my teacher Mrs. Wilberton.She says, The Ruby Redfort series is not a good example of the literature of our times.But if you look like a hippopotamus, it is hard to enjoy yourself.

Now Im going to hand over to the Candlewick people because they will tell you more about theactual in fact facts which will not be dreary because nothing about Ruby Redfort could ever bedreary.


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H e r e i s s o m e i n f o r m a t i o n

a b o u t th e

s m a r t e s t s e c r e t a g e n t

o n th e bl o c k. . .

.

O f c o u r s e y o u d o , b u s t e r !

W a n t t o k n o w m o r e

a b o u t th e

R u b y R e d f o r t b o o k s?


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RUBY REDFORT: THE NEW GENERATION

WHAT ARE THESE RUBY REDFORT BOOKS, THEN?

In the Clarice Bean books by Lauren Child, readers learn that Ruby Redfort was supposedlycreated by Patricia F. Maplin Stacey. Clarice Bean is Rubys number one fan, and so the ClariceBean books are chock-full of Ruby references.

Now multi-million-copy bestseller Lauren Child has stepped into the shoes of her made-upauthor Patricia F. Maplin Stacey to bring Ruby Redfort to life.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW IS THAT ZILLIONS OF KIDS AROUND THEWORLD ARE ALREADY CLAMORING

FOR RUBY REDFORT.


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But hang on, didnt Patricia F. Maplin Stacey

write the Ruby Redfort books?Whats going on?


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MEET THE CREATORS:

PATRICIA F. MAPLIN STACEY

The ctional author of the Ruby Redfort series as noted in the Clarice Beanbooks, Patricia F. Maplin Stacey was born in Connecticut in 1942. Latershe moved to LA, where her vivacious personality, offbeat style, and drywit quickly got her noticed. In 1964 she appeared in the cult movie When

Dawn Becomes Night .

But the Hollywood lifestyle was not for her, and in 1970 she retreated to asmall apartment in Greenwich Village where she started work on the RubyRedfort series. Initially turned down by the major publishing houses, herrst title, There Was a Girl Named Ruby, was an almost immediate hit

with kids and became an overnight bestseller. Patricia went on to write six more Ruby Redforttitles, and the series was made into one of the longest-running and most successful childrens TV series of all time.

Now Lauren Child will write a new generation of Ruby Redfort titles. Patricia has been quoted as

saying the time is r ight for a new, younger author to take Ruby to the next generation. Its been agreat ride, she said, but its time to get off.

LAUREN CHILDLauren Child is a clever code for the childrens author Lauren Child .

Lauren Child is good at writing detective books because she watchedfar too much TV as a child. She rst introduced the character of RubyRedfort in her three award-winning, bestselling Clarice Bean novels.Since then she has been inundated with letters from fans asking for theRuby Redfort series. Well, here it is!

As a child, she loved the novels of Patricia F. Maplin Stacey. She stillcant believe her luck that she gets to write her own Ruby books. Ruby isthe best, she says. Youd better believe it, buster.

Lauren lives in hiding and communicates only in unbreakable codes. Despite this, she hassomehow managed to win lots of prizes, including the Nestl Smarties/Childrens Book Prize(twice), the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Red House Childrens Book Award, and the NationalLiterary Association of England WOW Award. Her books have sold more than 3 million copiesaround the world.

MARCUS DU SAUTOY Code consultant Marcus du Sautoy, OBE, is the Simonyi Professorfor the Public Understanding of Science, Professor of Mathematics atthe University of Oxford, and a famous fan of Arsenal football club. A world-renowned number theorist, he is also the author of several popularbooks on math, including The Music of the Primes. He is responsible forthe codes in Ruby Redfort, which marks something of a departure forhim: having spent many years in books and newspapers attempting tosimplify and explain mathematical concepts, he is now devoting himself to making whole sections of the Ruby books more dif cult to understand.


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So, whats the story?


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Ruby Redford is a code-cracking genius and daring detective who works for a secret crime-bustingorganization called SPECTRUM. But even a kid as clever as Ruby doesnt get to be a special agentovernight. Look into My Eyes takes readers back to the very beginning and tells the story of howRuby came to take her place among SPECTRUMselite agents and solved her rst major crime.

I am looking for Ruby Redfort, said the voice.

Well you found her, replied Ruby.

Good, so now that Ive found you, all youve got to do is nd me.

Not much ruf es Ruby Redforts feathers, but when an anonymous caller sets her a challenge, its notlong before shes lowering herself down a manhole, crawling through a dark tunnel, and nding herway into the HQ of the most secret of secret agencies SPECTRUM. They need her help to crack acode, but her desk job soon spirals into an all-out action adventure, as Ruby uncovers the dastardlyplans of the formidable Fools Gold Gang.

So what is SPECTRUM?SPECTRUM is a secret agency, a very secret agency. . . . To putit simply, we work outside the government but not against the

government, if you know what I mean.

So what youre saying is, youre the good guys, said Ruby.We like to think we are the good, good guys, but good guys will do.

Everyone always thinks theyre the good guys, said Ruby.

Yes they do, said L.B. But happily for us, we are.


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Ruby Redfort popping up

March 27, 2012

MEET RUBY

The most striking thing about Ruby Redfort was that when youmet her you feel a strong need for her to like you.

Ruby lives in an eccentric house designed by a famous architect, and her parents are fabulously

rich socialites . Ruby Redfort works for a secret organization called SPECTRUMthat her parentsdont know anything about. She gets into lots of tricky situations with evil villains, like beingtrapped in a giant hourglass by Count von Viscount, but shes always ice-cool in a crisis.

Ruby has lots of GADGETS , which are usually disguised as everyday objects:

* A lifesaving rescue watch

* Mini-locator key ring

* Voice-throwing dog whistle

* A toaster that also convertsinto a fax machine. If you pressthe button down, a secret messagegets transmitted from Rubys bossat SPECTRUM.


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RUBYS TALENT

Probably the most important thing you need to know, though, is that Ruby is super amazing

at breaking codes . When Ruby was just seven years old she won the junior code cracker

championships solving the famous Eisenhauser conundrum in just seventeen days and forty-

seven minutes. The following year she entered the Junior Code Creator Contest and stunned the

judges when they found her code utterly impossible to break.

In the end it was sent to Harvard University professors, who eventually managed to solve it

two weeks later.

RUBYS RULES

Ruby has lots of rules for being a good spy/agent. Here are some Ruby Redfort rules:

RULE 1 You can never be completely sure what might happen next.

RULE 18 People often miss the downright obvious.

RULE 33 More often than not, there is a very ordinary explanationfor the extraordinary happening.

RUBY TALK

What is this,

GEEK CENTRAL?

Oh, brother

Give me a break,bozo.

Bored beyondbelief

This is atotal yawn.


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RUBYS WORLD

Rubys world is 1970s retro-chic with a twist! Its Lauren Childs fantasy version of that

super-groovy time. But SPECTRUMgives Ruby access to the future: their gadgets are cuttingedge, baby.

The world Ruby lives in is real but not real at the same time . It has schools and houses

and hedges just like anywhere else, but it also has subterranean secret agencies . Its all

about wish-ful lment, buster!

Ruby world is a world of escapist glamour . Think Hitchcock; think Charlies Angels: the

School Years; think B-movie villains; think Inspector Gadget; think a Tarantino movie for

kids. Without the inappropriate content, obviously.

Rubys world is self-contained, and can provide any setting . Rubys hometown of

Twinford is situated on the California coast next to snow-capped, forest-covered mountains,

sandy pebble beaches, parched deserts, safe suburbs, and edgy, bustling city streets with cool

friendly diners. . . . You name it, Twinfords got it!


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NOW STEP INTO RUBYS WORLD, AND MEET THE GOOD GUYS

AND THE BAD GUYS. . . .


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THE GOOD GUYS

HITCH:

Hitch is Rubys butler. He wears sharp suits, drives a cool sports car,and always has Rubys back because he is also a Spectrum agent.He does all this secret-agent stuff for Ruby, and everyone thinks he

is just a butler and he is, but not just. He can make you a meaneggs benedict while ghting off an assassin. He drives Ruby around,he rescues her whenever shes in serious trouble, and he brings herbreakfast. Hes so handsome he can make you forget your own name.

CLANCY CREW

Clancy Crew is Rubys best friend. He is an ambassadors son and hisfamily is very wealthy but he is also very clever, in a sideways sortof way and funny. Hes an original. Clancy is very good at keepingsecrets, and is totally completely loyal. He is brilliant at having good

hunches about people, which is why he is usually always helpingRuby out of tight spots.

RUBYS PARENTS

Rubys parents are named Brant and Sabina Redfort, and they aresocialites. They know nothing about her secret life as a mysterysolver and special agent because Ruby gives them nothing to besuspicious about. Sometimes she stuffs pillows under the quilt soit looks like shes actually asleep when really shes fteen-and-a-

bit thousand miles away and not wearing her pajamas at all butprobably instead a furry jacket, up a steep mountain.

MRS. DIGBY

Rubys housekeeper, Mrs. Digby, is a tough old bird and one hell of a survivor. She also makes good cookies. Mrs. Digby is probably oneof the smallest and most determined people one could meet, and shewould do anything for the Redforts. She has been their housekeepersince long before Ruby was born and before that she took care of Rubys mother. It wont surprise you then to know that she is gettingon in years, but no one is exactly sure of her age.


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SPECTRUM

baked beans.

SPECTRUMAGENTS

LB: The voice of Spectrum. Gives Ruby her instructions and missions. Super-organized, super-brainy, super-tough. Works at the headquarters in

HITCH:You know all about him already.

BUZZ:Answers the phones, and there are lots of them. Why is she called Buzz? Nobody knows.

FROGHORN:A prime bozo.

C E N

S O R E D


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THE BAD GUYS

VAPONA BUGWART BEGWELL

Rubys archenemy. She isnt a villain as such but she is very mean andmakes Rubys life a total misery at school. She says horrible things toRuby like, Hey, Ruby, can you see out of those glasses, because mysuggestion would be, dont look in the mirror if you dont wanna giveyourself a fright.

HOG-TROTTER

Ugly, in a comical way. But he is not as funny as he looks. Where Hog-Trotter is concerned its always wise to bear in mind the clich never

judge a villain by his face however ugly it may be. He is strangelygood at second-guessing people and quite the intellectual.

BABY FACE MARSHALL

A green-eyed, sweet-looking man. But this little fellow always surpriseseverybody. Hes a cold-blooded killer. If you see Baby Face, dont bothercalling for mommy. Just run!

VALERIE CAPALDI, AKA NINE-LIVES CAPALDI

Very pretty, but with a scar across her left eye.Decadent and very stylish. Has a diamond-encrusted revolver.

COUNT VON VISCOUNT

Looks like Dracula in an old B movie. Long, elegant nose, and thechiseled cheekbones of a gothic villain. You can recognize a Count von

Viscount crime because it is always bizarrely melodramatic. If someoneis dangling you over a bubbling volcano rather than just dropping you init, then it is almost bound to be the Count.


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So you should utterly read a bit you will literally

be on the edge of your wits.


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I ha ve de v ised so me t h i ng ra t he r s p le

nd id f o r yo u i t s s t ra ig h t o u t o f Th e Wi z

ar d o f O z.

W ha t a wo nde r f u l l m th

a t co u ld ha ve bee n i f o n l y so meo ne w i t h

a l i t t le im a gin a ti on had

d i rec ted i t. M y f a vo r i te sce ne is t he o ne w he re t he w i tc h t u r ns o ve r

t he ho u rg lass Do ro t h y w i l l

d ie w he n a l l t he sa nd has f a l le n. W ha t a

s ha me, I a l wa ys t ho ug h t, no t to p u t l i t

t le Do ro t h y in si d e

t he ho u rg lass. So m uc h mo re d ra ma t ic,

f a r less c ha nce f o r e r ro r . . . so co ns ide r

t h is a re ma ke, t he

ve rs io n Ho l l y wood wo u ld no t da re to sc re

e n!

R u b y s e yes g re w ve r y b ig a nd s he co u l

d no lo nge r be s u re t ha t he r hea r t was s

t i l l bea t i ng.

We l l no w, m y p re t t y sa id t he Co u n t, a

do p t i ng t he W ic ked W i tc h o f t he Wes t s

moc k i ng to ne.

W he n t he c loc k s t r i kes ha l f pas t e le ve n

, t he to we r yo u a re s i t t i ng i n w i l l beg i n

to l l w i t h jade-

g ree n sa nd l i ke a g ia n t ho u rg lass

.

R u b y w i nced. S he had ne ve r l i ked sa n

d i n he r ha i r, b u t to be b u r ied a l i ve i n i t was g r ueso me

be yo nd a n y t h i ng s he had see n i n a n y o f

M rs. D ig b y s t h r i l le rs. . . .

Co u n t vo n V isco u n t loo ked a t h is wa tc h

i t was a n o ld- f as h io ned t i me p iece, ke p

t i n h is poc ke t,

sec u red b y a c ha i n. T i me ma rc hes o n, h

o we ve r, a nd no w I reg re t I m us t lea ve yo

u.

R u b y s tood o n t he c ha i r a nd, ho ld i ng he

r w r is t ve r y s tead y, a i med t he wa tc h a t

a me ta l hoo k j us t

a bo ve t he w i ndo w, a nd p ressed do w n o n

t he w i nde r b u t to n.

O u t s ho t t he t i ta n i u m ca b le. T he g ra b be

r c la w reac hed o u t, m issed t he hoo k, a n

d t he ca b le s l id

do w n t he wa l l.

R u b y q u ic k l y re t rac ted i t a nd t r ied aga i

n. C om e on , I d on t h a v e tim e f or thi s. T h

is was t r ue,

t he sa nd had a l read y reac hed t he sea t o

f t he c ha i r. S he too k a i m aga i n, a nd bin

g o! t he c la w

c losed a ro u nd t he hoo k. R u b y c losed he r

e yes, p ressed t he re t rac to r, b rac i ng he rs

e l f to be w h is ked

a t l ig h t n i ng s peed t h ro ug h t he a i r . . . b

u t no t h i ng ha p pe ned.

N o , n o , n o! Y ou ar e a r e s cu e g a d g e t an d y

ou r e s cu e , th a t s wh a t y ou d o!

T he sa nd was co ve r i ng he r f ee t a nd t he

to we r was l l i ng u p f as t. Y ou c an t j am!

S p y g a d g e t s

d on t j am! S he p ressed aga i n s t i l l no t h i ng.

O K , y ou ca n j am bu t n o t n ow! S he p res

sed t he b u t to n aga i n no t h i ng f o r o ne s p l i t seco nd .

. .

a nd t he n q u i te s udde n l y R u b y was w re n

c hed f ro m t he c ha i r a nd ca r r ied a wa y h

ig h a bo ve

t he sa nd a nd o n to t he w i ndo w ledge.

An exceptionordinarily good bit:

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Ruby Redfort Dossier