Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the Book | Readalikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Mar 2008, 176 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2010, 176 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Jo Perry
Buy This Book
"You, too, A," Tim said, looking at the other twin.
"I will," Barnaby A promised.
"So will I," offered Jane.
"No. You needn't, because you are a girl. You will
never be called upon for important work," Tim told her.
Jane began to cry a little, but very quietly, so that
no one would notice. She vowed, through her quiet
little tears, that one day she would prove Tim wrong.
"Here is what I wrote," Tim told them, holding up
the note. He read it aloud. "'P.S. If there is any reward
to be had for this beastly baby, it should go to the
Willoughbys.'"
The other children nodded. They thought the P.S.
was a good idea.
"You might say must instead of should," Barnaby B
proposed.
"Good idea, B. Turn around."
Barnaby B turned and Tim used his back for a table
again, erasing one word and replacing it with the
other, which Barnaby B could feel him underline.
Then Tim read it aloud: "'If there is any reward to be
had for this beastly baby, it must go to the
Willoughbys.'"
He refolded the note and leaned down toward the
basket. Then he paused.
"Turn again, B," he commanded. After his brother
had turned to make a table of his back one more
time, Tim wrote an additional sentence. He folded
the note and pinned it to the baby's sweater.
"Get the gate, Jane," Tim said, and she pulled it
open. "Now, one, two, three: HOIST!" Together the
boys lifted the basket containing the baby from the
wagon. They carried it to the sagging, dusty porch of
the mansion and left it there.
The Willoughbys walked home.
"What did you add to the note at the end, Tim?"
Barnaby A asked.
"Another P.S."
"What did it say, Tim?" asked Barnaby B.
"It said, 'Her name is Ruth.'"
Jane pouted. "Why?" she asked.
"Because," Tim said with a sly smile, "we are the
ruthless Willoughbys."
From The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry. Copyright Lois Lowry 2008. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of the publisher, Walter Lorraine Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
