Tea & Read: Ruby's Slippers

Title: Ruby's Slippers
Author: Leanna Ellis
Rating: Twenty-Four Hours of Bliss (top rating)

This book was so adorable. As you could probably surmise from the title, Ruby's Slippers follows the theme from the Wizard of Oz. I loved this book. But of course, I'm biased because I loved the movie Wizard of Oz.

Dottie Meyers runs a farm in Kansas with her dog Otto after her mother dies. When a tornado hits the farm, Dottie wakes up in California with a surprising gift at her bedside: a pair of ruby slippers from her father. She sets off on a journey to find him, a man that she hasn't seen since she was four but visited her while she was in a coma. Along the way she picks up three more characters, all with Otto in tow.

One of the wonderful things about this book is that although it follows the themes of the original Wizard of Oz, the subplots go places that the original story doesn't go. Grief, self-esteem and family relationships are woven in with familiar "nothing is as it seems" theme of the Judy Garland classic. I also love the way she swapped out elements of the original story with more modern things (Munchkinland is a senior citizen community, hilarius).

Great book to have for your bookshelf.