Ruby Lu, Brave and True, by Lenore Look

Ruby Lu, Brave and True was Lenore Look's first chapter book.  Since I fell in love with Alvin Ho a couple weeks ago, I've wanted to check out her previous series.

Comparatively, Ruby Lu feels like an early effort.  The narrative style  doesn't read as smoothly as Alvin Ho.  Ruby herself is curious, funny, and a realistic blend of brave and nervous, but she's not as convincingly complete or disarming as Alvin is.  Visually, the illustrations in Alvin Ho accentuate the text more dramatically than those in Ruby Lu.  Then again, I was thoroughly smitten with LeUyen Pham's clean expressive style, so I may not have given illustrator Anne Wilsdorf a fair chance.

In summary, Ruby Lu is promising, where Alvin Ho is stellar.  I love how Lenore Look's writing has grown over the last five years.