Here is how things stand at the beginning of
newly-licensed driver Ruby Oliver's junior year at Tate Prep:
• Kim: Not speaking. But far away
in Tokyo.
• Cricket: Not speaking.
• Nora: Speaking--sort of. Chatted a couple times this summer
when they bumped into each other outside of school--once shopping
in the U District, and once in the Elliot Bay Bookstore. But she
hadn't called Ruby, or anything.
• Noel: Didn't care what anyone thinks.
• Meghan: Didn't have any other friends.
• Dr. Z: Speaking.
• And Jackson. The big one. Not speaking.
But, by Winter Break, a new job, an unlikely
but satisfying friend combo, additional entries to The Boy Book
and many difficult decisions help Ruby to see that there is, indeed,
life outside the Tate Universe.