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''Ruby Holler'' (2002) is a low fantasy novel for children by the American writer Sharon Creech, published by HarperCollins in 2002. It features adolescent orphan twins who are "trouble" and an eccentric older couple who adopt them and take them back to live in "magical" Ruby Holler (hollow).〔 Creech won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognizing the year's best children's book published in the U.K. (Bloomsbury Children's Books).〔 In a retrospective citation, the librarians call it "a beautifully written story about love and trust and how the strength and goodness of human beings can overcome all the odds".〔 Creech was the first American winner of the British award and the first person to win both the American Newbery Medal (''Walk Two Moons'', 1994) and the British Carnegie.〔 ==Plot== The story starts in the Boxton Creek Home, an 'orphanage' run by a strict couple, the Trepids. A thirteen-year-old boy named Dallas, who is an imaginative young teenager, and his twin sister Florida, a sassy and bold girl, have been living for a long time in the Home, and they have been punished many times for breaking of the rules that the Trepids post all over the House. They have been adopted many times and then returned for various reasons, often by fault of the adopters. Because of this, they have been named the "trouble twins." They have a plan to run away and board a train. Outside of Boxton, in a plot of land called Ruby Holler, Tiller and Sairy Morey, a very old couple whose children have grown up and left, are sitting and discussing about their plain lives, that they want a new adventure. The two decide to foster care for children, and they adopt Dallas and Florida. Although Sairy, a very kind and trusting old lady, is very excited about the idea, Tiller, a "crotchety old boot", is doubtful of the kids in Ruby Holler. Even though the twins enjoy the freedom and adventure in the holler, they're still suspicious and think that Tiller and Sairy will mistreat them like others before, although their suspicions are soon proven false. Tiller and Sairy tell Dallas and Florida that they are planning on each going on separate trips, and they want the twins to come on each: Dallas with Sairy onto an island, and Florida with Tiller on a rafting trip. All of them are uneasy about leaving their partner, but they don't reveal it. Tiller and Sairy use their "understone funds," underground savings that they've kept for years, for the trips. Elsewhere, Mr. Trepid, who has heard about the understone funds from Dallas and Florida as they ran into each other in Boxton while getting supplies for the trips, asks a shady man called Z, Tiller and Sairy's neighbor, to map out Ruby Holler, but doesn't say why. Z feels uneasy doing so because he likes Tiller and Sairy, but does so anyway, stalling with the assistance, as well as helping with the Ruby Holler family prepare for their trips. Dallas and Florida, however, still think that Tiller and Sairy are still trouble, so they take the supplies for the trips and run away, but don't get far from their cabin. Sairy and Tiller "find" the twins camping out, and say what a good idea the twins had to test the supplies and equipment. They suggest practice trips closer to home. While on the trips, Tiller and Sairy learn about the twins' past and realize that the Trepids were horrible people. While on their trips, Z continues to stall with production of Mr. Trepid's map, as he probably feels more protective of the kids because he believes that Dallas and Florida are really his biological children because the Carters' mother named on the birth certificate was his wife. Eventually he gives Mr Trepid a map with possible hiding places, but takes the understone funds to prevent them from being stolen from Mr. Trepid. On Tiller and Florida's small trip while rafting down a river, their boat capsizes and Tiller suffers a heart attack. Luckily, Dallas, Sairy, and Z find them and Tiller is taken to a hospital where he recovers. Z starts bonding with the twins and they set up traps for Mr. Trepid while he looks for the understone funds and fails to find them. In the end, two of Tiller and Sairy's biological children visit the Holler to check on Tiller's health and suggest they send the twins back to the Boxton Creek Home. Dallas and Florida hear their conversation and run away again before hearing Tiller and Sairy's denial. In the morning, Dallas and Florida smell food from the cabin and return to Ruby Holler. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ruby Holler」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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