Why did Ruby's mom keep Ruby away from her older sister?

I don't think Ruby's mom had any right to do this. Cora was trying to get in touch with her sister after she left for college and Ruby wanted to talk to her. But, whenever Cora tried to talk to Ruby their mom would say that Ruby didn't want to speak to Cora. I think she did this because she didn't want to be alone. Ruby's mom knew that if Cora and her sister talked that she would take Ruby away. So to prevent this Ruby's mom never let the two sisters speak. When Ruby found out about this she was really upset. She had thought that Cora was the bad guy because she never tried to contact Ruby. But, really it was Ruby's mom that was the bad guy and that was hard for her.

What do you think the white fish Ruby got for the pond symbolizes to her?

Ruby's brother-in-law built a pond in the backyard of their house. When he was buying the fish he let Ruby pick out one fish to be hers. Ruby picked out a white fish and her brother-in-law made sure not to pick any more white ones. I think that this fish kind of symbolized her. For the Winter all of the fish went down to the bottom of the pond to hide. Ruby thought of this as her because the fish was hiding when her life was turning out to be very difficult. Then, when it became warm again the fish came back up. She then thought this was like her because when it came up her life was getting back to normal and she was finally adjusting to it.

Will Ruby ever take off her key necklace?

I don't think that Ruby will ever be able to take off her necklace. The key on her necklace was the key to her old house that she lived in with her mother. To her this key symbolizes her past which was very important to her. Her past wasn't the best but she learned from it and it helped her. Most people would want to forget their pasts but Ruby didn't. She thought of the necklace as a key into her past which she would always keep because it really changed her.

When do you think Ruby and Nate really connected?

It took a while for Ruby to finally connect with Nate. The day that she connected with him she finally got a hint of what was going on with him and it helped her. They finally connected on Thanksgiving when Ruby went over to Nate's house. Ruby heard Nate's dad yell at him and smash a shelf to the ground. This gave Ruby a clue that there might be something wrong and she wanted to help. Nate tried to push Ruby away but she wouldn't allow that. This definitely helped their relationship grow.

Introduction

I read Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. Ruby's childhood was never easy while living with her mom and sister. Her mom was a drunk, a drug addict, and often hit her older sister. Things got even harder for Ruby when her sister went off to college and her mom disappeared. She was left alone and finally found and sent to live with her sister who was now successful and happy. Ruby did not want help from anyone and it took her a while to finally accept it. Then, she met Nate, her new next door neighbor. She was put off by him and how much he wanted to help her at first. When she really got to know him she found out that there was a mystery behind him that she wanted to find out. Ruby wanted to help him but it was hard because she could barley accept help herself. I really enjoyed this book and it was a good story of a girl finally finding herself.