"Love, Ruby Lavender" (Harcourt Brace), was published in 2001 and is about a nine-year-old girl, Ruby, who lives in Halleluia, Mississippi. In this book, her grandmother of a best friend takes a vacation to Hawaii, leaving Ruby to put up with Melba Jane, who has not stop bothering her since the accident with Melba's father and Ruby's grandfather last summer. Ruby writes to and receives many letters from her grandmother, chronicling her summer. The novel was an ALA Notable Children's Book, a BookSense 76 Pick, an NCTE Notable Children's Trade Book in the Language Arts, a New York Public Library 100 Titles For Reading and Sharing title, and a Parent's Guide Children's Media Award Winner.