Books with author Bernice Lum

Ruby Rogers is about to turn ten. She wants to be a gangster when she grows up. She also wants nothing more than a tree house for her birthday. Problem is, there aren't any trees in her garden, and her family laugh off the idea. Ruby's furious, but then life takes a turn for the better when, through her best friend Yasmin, she meets Holly Helvellyn, a super-cool Gothic girl who's friends with Yasmin's older sister. It turns out Holly rather fancies Ruby's older brother Joe - the brooding artist in the sixth-form who has a strange habit of talking in newspaper headlines.One day Holly asks Ruby to steal something from Joe's bedroom for a joke, setting off a chain of events that culminate in some very unexpected but pleasant surprises . . .

A new boy at school causes great excitement among Ruby's friends, especially Yasmin. She won't shut up about him. As if Ruby hasn't got better things to think about! A lesson on careers has got her wondering about her future. If being a Robin Hood gangsta doesn't work out, what will she do? Only when abandoned alone in a forest during a school trip does Ruby finally manage to escape all that boring boy talk. And there she makes the first in a series of surprising and exciting discoveries . . .Accurate and funny portrayals of the difficulties of being the youngest in the family, and the trials and tribulations of having a moody older brother and a bossy best friend . . .

It's Yasmin's birthday and Ruby, short of money, makes her the most wonderful home-made card ever. Yasmin's best present, though, is a set of windup false teeth, which Ruby borrows, but which never make it home - well, not in one piece, anyway.Oh dear. Plagued with guilt, Ruby's convinced Yasmin will never forgive her and can't face 'fessing up straight away. Life always seems to get so complicated for our Ruby!A much-needed series for all those tom-boy girls out there!

It's just not fair! Ruby's family won't let her have a pet. Well, any decent pets, anyway. Her dad's got this awful cat allergy and her mum thinks it's cruel to leave a dog alone in the house all day. Ruby is furious - but determined.Then she meets Horatio, one of the kittens belonging to Yasmin's neighbour. It's love at first sight, and Ruby starts making plans for the arrival of the new secret family member . . .

Winter is closing in, and with it comes a new set of problems. Ruby is afraid of the dark, and older brother Joe enjoys taking advantage of this by giving her scares whenever he can. The fabulous Holly points out that everyone is afraid of something. True as this turns out to be, it doesn't really help Ruby, especially when she discovers that her babysitter is even more afraid of the dark than she is!On top of that, it's the school play and Ruby also has to confront her stage fright. And then, when things really can't get any worse, Joe is still going out with that awful girl, Tiffany. Why, oh why, won't he come to his senses, dump her and go out with the wacky, witty and wonderful Holly?

Ruby's off to the seaside with Mum, Dad and Mum's work friend Deb and her family. It's soon clear that Ruby and Sasha, Deb's daughter, have absolutely nothing in common, so when Sasha does decide to take a sudden interest in monkeys in an evil attempt at one-upmanship, this can mean only one thing: REVENGE.It's a good job Dad wants to teach Ruby to swim, as it gives them both an escape from Sasha and her family. Well, it would be a good idea if he didn't almost drown her!