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Way Down Deep #2
The Treasure of Way Down Deep
In 1954, when mine closings bring an economic crisis to Way Down Deep, West Virginia, foundling Ruby Jolene Hurley makes a thirteenth-birthday wish to find the treasure rumored to have been buried by one of the town's founders.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2013
8 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Ruth White
78 books112 followersI was born in the Appalachian hills of Virginia, which is the setting for Belle Prater's Boy and The Search for Belle Prater. I lived there until I graduated from high school and went away to college. Though I left the hills, they never left me. My memories of those years are quite vivid. I have always referred to that time as both traumatic and wonderful. I get most of my ideas for my stories from those memories of my childhood home, the small coal-mining town of Grundy, Virginia.
I started writing at a very young age. I remember trying to write stories before I was even able to put long sentences together. It was just something I felt compelled to do, probably because I loved stories so much. We had no television because my family was very poor; my mother was raising my three sisters and me with very little money. So we read aloud and enjoyed each other’s company.
Eventually I became a teacher and then a school librarian. Working in the public schools among adolescents fueled my desire to write, and I suppose the age group I worked with helped me determine that I wanted to write for them instead of for adults or smaller children. I wrote my first book, The City Rose, based on an experience that happened when I taught seventh and eighth grade in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. The schools had recently been integrated, and I had two black girls in one of my classes. I noticed that whenever we went to the library, they didn’t check out any books. Finally, they told me that it was because they couldn’t find any books about black children. So I decided to write one.
For Belle Prater's Boy, my inspiration came from Grundy, like it has so many times. When I was small I used to ride through the nicest residential area there and look at the pretty houses and manicured lawns. I thought these were wealthy people who had ideal lives. Only in later years did I realize that the people living in those houses were quite average, living the way most Americans live. They had their own particular problems, which I could not even imagine. So I decided to set a novel there. First, I created Gypsy, the city mouse, who lived in one of those pretty houses, and Woodrow, the country mouse, who was from the sticks. Then I asked them to tell me their story.
I didn’t plan to write a sequel to Belle Prater's Boy. I thought Woodrow's theory about what happened to his mother would be enough for the reader, but it obviously was not. I had many letters from readers wanting to know what happened to Belle, and asking me to write a sequel. Actually, I did the first draft of the sequel in the late nineties. After many revisions, I created The Search for Belle Prater.
When I'm not writing, I like to walk in the park with my golden retriever, listen to books on tape, and watch movies. Away from home, I like to visit schools and talk to young people about books and writing. My daughter usually travels with me, and we have a great time together.
I started writing at a very young age. I remember trying to write stories before I was even able to put long sentences together. It was just something I felt compelled to do, probably because I loved stories so much. We had no television because my family was very poor; my mother was raising my three sisters and me with very little money. So we read aloud and enjoyed each other’s company.
Eventually I became a teacher and then a school librarian. Working in the public schools among adolescents fueled my desire to write, and I suppose the age group I worked with helped me determine that I wanted to write for them instead of for adults or smaller children. I wrote my first book, The City Rose, based on an experience that happened when I taught seventh and eighth grade in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. The schools had recently been integrated, and I had two black girls in one of my classes. I noticed that whenever we went to the library, they didn’t check out any books. Finally, they told me that it was because they couldn’t find any books about black children. So I decided to write one.
For Belle Prater's Boy, my inspiration came from Grundy, like it has so many times. When I was small I used to ride through the nicest residential area there and look at the pretty houses and manicured lawns. I thought these were wealthy people who had ideal lives. Only in later years did I realize that the people living in those houses were quite average, living the way most Americans live. They had their own particular problems, which I could not even imagine. So I decided to set a novel there. First, I created Gypsy, the city mouse, who lived in one of those pretty houses, and Woodrow, the country mouse, who was from the sticks. Then I asked them to tell me their story.
I didn’t plan to write a sequel to Belle Prater's Boy. I thought Woodrow's theory about what happened to his mother would be enough for the reader, but it obviously was not. I had many letters from readers wanting to know what happened to Belle, and asking me to write a sequel. Actually, I did the first draft of the sequel in the late nineties. After many revisions, I created The Search for Belle Prater.
When I'm not writing, I like to walk in the park with my golden retriever, listen to books on tape, and watch movies. Away from home, I like to visit schools and talk to young people about books and writing. My daughter usually travels with me, and we have a great time together.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 19, 2013
As Ruby Jolene Hurley celebrates her thirteenth birthday in her Way Down Deep, West Virginia home, strange things begin to happen, all of them leading to an unanticipated but much-needed windfall. After her pet goat Jethro dies and she receives an unusual button as a birthday gift, everything comes together, and Ruby figures out where the town's founder left his treasure long ago. As she always does, the author handles her characters and the town's plight with sympathy and humor. Even when she creates initially unsympathetic characters such as Miss Duke, the English teacher from out of town, she manages to find a way to evoke understanding for them and to allow them to grow over the course of the book. Readers will be hard pressed not to like Ruby because of her kind heart, her determination, and her unselfishness. I loved how so many elements of the book ended up coming together in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2013
I love reading books by Ruth White because the characters feel real and believable. I loved this book which is a nice way to follow Way Down Deep. If there was a third book about Way Down Deep, I'd read that, too.
June 11, 2016
Great little mystery. I didn't read the first book, and I don't feel students have to read it. Trust your instincts and always listen to those ghosts, especially if they're goats! Upper elementary to 7th. Historical too!
January 7, 2023
I've read several books by Ruth White, and really love her writings. I'm not from the U.S. nor have lived in an Appalachian part of the U.S., and so her stories give me a feeling of being an anthropologist studying a foreign community. While I don't believe every part of Appalachia is as warm and fuzzy as her books make it out to be, I like her stories because it depicts the hard realities that hit adults and children, but it always gives a sense of hope through her young protagonist's strength. I also enjoy the magical part of her story as well, such as the dreams that Ms. Arbutus has that somehow are connected to reality. I also like that, while her protagonist tends to be girls, there are always boy characters who are as important as the girl protagonist in her stories. While Belle Prater's Son remains my most favorite by this author, I do find her other works worthy of reading.
February 7, 2018
I think I would have enjoyed this book more had I read the first book (Way Down Deep) first. I was excited to read another book by the author of Belle Prater's Boy! Interesting elements in this book -- boardinghouse full of interesting people with whom main character Ruby can interact, mysterious treasure to be found, even a little fantasy element of a time traveler -- that will make the series fun for young readers!
February 12, 2018
Ruby Junes was a normal girl in a little town called Way Down having her birthday when she figures out that her pet has died so not only did she miss him but also has wished the treasure was found for years. When she told her teacher about finding the treasure the teacher helped her find some clues and when she finally found out where the treasure was everything changed
I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and adventure
I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and adventure
December 31, 2021
Some writers just sweep you up and take you to the places where their characters come alive and become real to us. Ruth White is such a writer. I highly recommend this book for middle readers and adults who need positive voices and simplicity in this frantic and complicated world.
April 13, 2018
Eastern US small town with a fun name and quirky characters, and a little supernatural assistance, made for an entertaining story. Good for grade 4-6 perhaps. I did not read book #1.
February 15, 2022
What a completely delightful and charming read! I bought this on a whim and I am so glad I did.
February 19, 2022
I feel like i'm reading a literature book🤣🤣 It's mystery and kind a fantasy. It's fine to read but not really my type but i'm enjoyed✨
February 17, 2024
Fun sequel to Way Down Deep.
December 3, 2019
Closer to a 3.5. The town of Way Down Deep is very well-developed and enjoyable to read about, but the book lacked a strong plot. Still enjoyed revisiting Way Down Deep and it’s wonderful people though!
July 25, 2013
The Treasure of Way Down Deep is set in a small town that finds its economic stability from the coal mines that provide jobs to the needy and keep enough people in town that commercial businesses stay afloat. When the coal mines start shutting down, Way Down Deep, the town, finds itself in economic crisis. Only if the rumored treasure of the town is found will the future be salvaged.
The novel is wonderful at portraying the vulnerability of the children who are helpless victims to the downward spiral of the economy. The characterizations of the different children are well done and the reader cannot help but cheer for the large dreams of the children who are told by the adults around them that their dreams are unrealistic. However, Ruby Jolene Hurley, the heroine of this novel, while interesting, is too one dimensional a character to be universally appealing. Rather than being as flawed as say Anne Shirley, she is rather too perfect in too many ways. Fortunately, the many side characters more than make up for the lackluster protagonist.
The novel is didactic but not overtly so. Though there are fantastic elements present, the reality of poverty always intrudes and keeps the reader tethered to the real world. The pacing is brisk and the book should appeal to children who will be attracted by the “children against adults” binary created within the narrative. Sadly, the dancing ghost of the goat does not play as prominent a part as the synopsis would have you believe.
The novel is wonderful at portraying the vulnerability of the children who are helpless victims to the downward spiral of the economy. The characterizations of the different children are well done and the reader cannot help but cheer for the large dreams of the children who are told by the adults around them that their dreams are unrealistic. However, Ruby Jolene Hurley, the heroine of this novel, while interesting, is too one dimensional a character to be universally appealing. Rather than being as flawed as say Anne Shirley, she is rather too perfect in too many ways. Fortunately, the many side characters more than make up for the lackluster protagonist.
The novel is didactic but not overtly so. Though there are fantastic elements present, the reality of poverty always intrudes and keeps the reader tethered to the real world. The pacing is brisk and the book should appeal to children who will be attracted by the “children against adults” binary created within the narrative. Sadly, the dancing ghost of the goat does not play as prominent a part as the synopsis would have you believe.
August 26, 2013
In 1954 Ruby Jolene Hurley turned thirteen, while blowing the candles to her cake she made the a far out wish, to find the treasure of Way Down Deep that was hidden by the towns founder in hopes of escaping the pirates he had stolen it from.
Finding the treasure could change a lot of things for Way Down Deep and it’s neighbors after mining sites start to close and an evil wind starts to blow on the town’s direction.
The treasure of Way Down Deep by Ruth White is not your typical children’s book, it touches some a subject that a lot of children’s books try to stay away from death, in this case the death of a pet, so you as a parent should be aware of all the questions this might lead to and in my opinion it isn’t a subject you would want to leave up in the air.
I like that even if the story revolves around Ruby not everything in the story is about her, in this short book we get to know a lot of the inhabitants of Way Down Deep, be it educators, towns people, people that live in the same boarding house as Ruby and some of Ruby’s classmates.
For being such a small book I feel it not only lets us know other characters but it also handles more than one subject, such as death, the attitude of some adults, greed and how one can better oneself if one really wishes to do so.
Adults and kids can enjoy this book and even compare some of the points given here, so if you are looking for a book that will help you interact with your child you may want to consider this one.
Finding the treasure could change a lot of things for Way Down Deep and it’s neighbors after mining sites start to close and an evil wind starts to blow on the town’s direction.
The treasure of Way Down Deep by Ruth White is not your typical children’s book, it touches some a subject that a lot of children’s books try to stay away from death, in this case the death of a pet, so you as a parent should be aware of all the questions this might lead to and in my opinion it isn’t a subject you would want to leave up in the air.
I like that even if the story revolves around Ruby not everything in the story is about her, in this short book we get to know a lot of the inhabitants of Way Down Deep, be it educators, towns people, people that live in the same boarding house as Ruby and some of Ruby’s classmates.
For being such a small book I feel it not only lets us know other characters but it also handles more than one subject, such as death, the attitude of some adults, greed and how one can better oneself if one really wishes to do so.
Adults and kids can enjoy this book and even compare some of the points given here, so if you are looking for a book that will help you interact with your child you may want to consider this one.
March 5, 2014
This was a very cute, very simple and a very wholesome story for children. It was a pleasant surprise to read a novel where there were no tricks, treachery or disappointment--everything was exactly as you expected it to be. I didn't realize that this was a book for children, nor did I realize it was the second in a series by Ruth White. Still, I enjoyed it very much, and believe it would be excellent bedtime reading to share between an adult and child.
April 2, 2015
These characters are special. Way Down Deep is a special place, and the plot of this book makes sure that it stays that way. The touch of magical realism in these books is just right, in my opinion.
March 10, 2014
Again this book was really cute and I read it really fast! I just loved everything about it!! I was a little irritated when I learned it was a sequel, thought. I hate it when I read the sequel first!
May 6, 2014
Pleasant continuation of Way Down Deep, charming, old timey, country feel with a nice, pat, feel good ending with a touch of magic.
November 28, 2014
A quick heartwarming read - that's what this is.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews