Free as a Bird

by Gina McMurchy-Barber

Born with Down syndrome, Ruby Jean Sharp comes from a time when being a developmentally disabled person could mean growing up behind locked doors and barred windows and being called names like "retard" and "moron." When Ruby Jean's caregiver and loving grandmother dies, her mother takes her to Woodlands School in New Westminster, British Columbia, and rarely visits.

As Ruby Jean herself says: "Can't say why they called it a school -- a school's a place you go for learnin an then after you get to go home. I never learnt much bout ledders and numbers, an I sure never got to go home."

It's here in an institution that opened in 1878 and was originally called the Provincial Lunatic Asylum that Ruby Jean learns to survive isolation, boredom, and every kind of abuse. Just when she can hardly remember if she's ever been happy, she learns a lesson about patience and perseverance from an old crow.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Disability, Poetry, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Historical

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Gina McMurchy-Barber is an award winning Canadian author. Her books are favourites with teachers and librarians looking for stories that will touch the heart. Her latest book, The Jigsaw Puzzle King, was the winner of the 2021 Silver Birch Award and is nominated for three more awards in 2022. It's the story of 11 year old Warren coming to terms with how society judges his brother who has Down syndrome. Anyone with a family member with any kind of exceptionality will relate.

Gina's archaeology adventure series brings history to life. Themes include First Nations, building the railroad, fur trade, Vikings and more.

Gina's other passions in life include animals (she was a research assistant in Borneo with Birute Galdikas, studying orangutans), archaeology (she earned her degree from Simon Fraser University), writing (she is working on her eighth book for kids), and teaching (she has been a classroom teacher for over twenty years, and writes plays and stories that inspire her students.)

Gina started writing while studying archaeology at university. This led her to study journalism and become a freelance writer. After the birth of her two sons she discovered the amazing world of children's books.

In 2004 Gina received the Governor General's Award for Teaching Excellence in Canadian History. Since then she has been nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association Book Award, BC Book Prize, Saskatchewan's Willow Awards, the Silver Birch Awards, Hackmatack and various other book awards.

Gina's books incorporate her love of history, archaeology, children and animals. She continues to teach and visit schools to talk about her work.

Reviews

[Sarah Cavar]

This is a rare middle-grade book that looks head-on at nurses' and other medical middle managers' unbridled sadism, the impacts of complex trauma endured at the hands of medical/psychiatric incarceration, and the alliances possible between disabled/Mad people in times of state abandonment. While this book is worth critiquing based on the inconsistent, patronizing "voice" the text takes on when presenting Ruby-Jean's narrative, the valorization of Catholicism, and the undue focus on a handful of "good apples" within the medical industry, it also offers points of class solidarity among marginalized bodyminds that is virtually nonexistent in most fictional disability narratives for any age group. For example, an unhoused, Mad, multiply-disabled woman forms a mutually-life-saving alliance with Ruby-Jean. Earlier in the text, we see Ruby exploring the limits of friendship and confidence with other institutionalized disabled people of all ages as they eke out lives together.

What's also interesting to me is that the author of this text is the sibling to a disabled person. Usually, we as disabled readers cringe upon seeing a parent or sibling write their story of disabled life, because that's what they write: *their* story, not the story that would be told by actual disabled people. This book did fall into a few of the unpleasant tropes that family members perpetuate, particularly the one that claims that, inevitably, the aforementioned "good apples" will swoop in to support otherwise-marginalized disabled subjects, even though these mythical "good ableds" rarely appear in real life. Nonetheless, it is also clear that McMurchy-Barber did her research into the since-shuttered institution she depicts in this text, and writes informed by a genuine politic of accompliceship and rightful horror at attempts to eradicate disability.

So! A complicated, mixed book indeed. I'm not rating it for that reason. But I'm also shelving it under "best mg/ya," because I think that this book, and siblings like Good Kings Bad Kings, Angel Blood, Bird-Eyes, and Fat Girl Dances With Rocks, needs to get into the hands of kids and teens ASAP.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, how I love Ruby Jean Sharp. This little gem of a book reminded me of Giles' Girls Like Us. Allowing Ruby Jean to tell her own story in her own words (including spelling) is simply perfect. Ruby lives in Woodlands, a facility for "retards" as she's called (the setting is the 1960s - 1970s) after being abandoned by her mother and her mother's boyfriend. Ruby witnesses and experiences atrocities here; some of these scenes horrified me, but her spunk and naivete save her. She almost forgets what it means to be happy, but memories of her grandmother's love and a crow (I know it sounds strange, but it works) help her to not only survive but thrive. Everyone who works with special needs students should read this. Scratch that; everyone should read this story.

[Magic Birdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I found this book interesting and pleasant. I liked that it was often frank about the issues it discusses, though it would still distort them somewhat through its choices about what to include or emphasize.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this one is between three and four stars, but still more toward three.
OK, in writing my review, I realized in good conscience I could not let my rating stand at three stars. It is a four-star book (I think my emotional responses of sadness and anger on behalf of Ruby Jean and those like her initially coloured my rating downward, when indeed these emotional responses are further evidence that I should have bumped my rating upward). So, four stars it is.

Overall, I thought this book is a a solid thoughtful, and thought-provoking read. It is also an Important Book, covering a topic that we Canadians have too long ignored and that we need to be educated more about. I think McMurchy-Barber did a solid job of covering the topic and of telling the story in the voice of the people who had the misfortune to be imprisoned at Woodlands.

I think that choosing to write the story in the voice of Ruby Jean, a girl with Down's Syndrome who was abandoned at Woodlands by her mother, was overall an effective strategy to really get into how people felt living at Woodlands. I appreciated too that McMurchy-Barber also used sources such as interviews with these people to give a solid basis for her tale. For me, one of the drawbacks, however, was that by making the whole story in Ruby Jean's voice, McMurchy-Barber was also a bit trapped by Ruby Jean's voice. By this point I mean that there was information McMurchy-Barber wanted to convey about the conditions in the institution and the behaviours and attitudes of the staff there. Because the book was all in Ruby Jean's voice, the author was then force to have her character recite information that seemed much deeper and more complex than Ruby Jean would have been capable of conveying. I think sensing this McMurchy-Barber finished this parts with Ruby Jean saying 'but, of course, I could not understand it all because I am not too smart'. But, these steps out of character for Ruby Jean were jarring to me and the 'but I could not understand it' disclaimers felt too much like a 'but then I woke up and it was all a dream' unsatisfying ending.

All of that said, however, I think part of the "problem" is that McMurchy-Barber did such a wonderful job of creating Ruby Jean's character and voice it was that much more noticeable when the character stepped out of character. To soften that not-so-great compliment (and I really did meant as a compliment), I will honestly say that I liked Ruby Jean and thought McMurchy-Barber did a fantastic job of creating an emotionally deep, complex, thoughtful character in Ruby Jean.

I also think that McMurchy-Barber did a wonderful job of creating a supporting cast of characters, all of whom had their own thoughts and feelings and behaviours. And, I appreciated that even when creating the unlikeable characters McMurchy-Barber showed their humanity. Some, as in real life, truly were horrible people, others undertook terrible behaviours (which were still adamantly wrong) but did so from their own misguided sense of what needed to be done and/or their own broken dysfunctional responses to the world.

I also think that McMurchy-Barber did a wonderful job of discussing an incredibly complex and difficult situation full of incredible wrong-doing and of capturing all of the nuances of what happened in a way that was real, relatable, and engaging. Additionally, this author managed all of that for a middle-school-aged audience without ever watering it down or pulling any punches on it. No gorey details, but enough to understand what was going on, and the abuses being inflicted on the undeserving inmates.

Overall, a solid read on a difficult topic that was written by an author with a deft hand for character, emotion, setting, and situation, and audience. I will look up other work by this writer.

[ShanLandis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice children's lit, from the veiw point of a disabled student.

[Rhett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free as a bird is an extremely heartwarming book that is in the P.O.V of Ruby Jean who moves into woodlands a Mental hospital in the 60's as she is abandoned by her parents and sent to woodlands at a young age.I read this book with my class and it is truly heart warming to see the development of a character that is being mistreated and moving into woodlands at the age of 8. From there I love the P.O.V of Ruby Jean,and the way she vividly describes everything around her. After she moves out of woodlands gives the reader a sigh of relief to know that she is in the care of a loving mother and father (Pops and Nan). After Pops is provoked "dead" Ruby runs away from her home in search of what she calls a better life on the streets. She meets certain more so "shady people" as one night she goes to sleep on her bench and have her back pack stolen. I really love the concept of this story and how she is dazed and confused moving into this new world that she has never been in before. After that she meets some new friends along the way on the streets of Vancouver. I will no longer spoil the book any further, 5 stars no doubt.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book just the way that they use the language of Ruby Jean it really makes you feel like you get to know this little girl who has downs and it really let's you feel like you are in her head even when she was mute in real life so it was neat to know what she was thinking when she would not talk because you get a good idea of what is happening in her life. And even when she did start talking you still got to know what was going on in her life. I really like the way that they spell words in the book because they spelled words as though Ruby Jean had wrote them because she did not get a good education so she did not know how to spell very well so in the story she misspelled words to show how she would have spelled. That is why I give this book a 5 star review and I highly suggest that you read this book to.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really admire this book because the author used Ruby Jeans own voice and perspective , how she would talk in the 1900s and as a little girl that didn’t have any education of language. The author is also very descriptive in her writing, it always make me hallucinate pictures in my head. It’s like I’m standing beside Ruby Jean and watched her whole life, It was like I was there when she was ignorant baby and when she turn into a sensible teenage girl. I was there when she always said to herself “On count of me not being so smart” , and I was also there when she has someone that will always accompany her. I really recommend this book to everyone. It doesn’t matter which type of book you read, you should always try this book. I was a fantasy reader before I read this book. Now, I am opened to all various kinds of book.

[Mira Kiefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an amazing text, it was sad but it gave you a mini lesson about Canada's history. The authors choice of words were so descriptive it almost made you feel like you were in the book. My grade 7/8 class read this book and we were so involved and into it that at the end of the read we gave it an applause. This is a story about an 8 year old girl with down syndrome who gets dropped off at a mental hospital by her parents with no preparation and she has to face a lot in her young ages. The suspense in the book was amazing, I never wanted to put it down I just wanted to keep reading it. There was lots of connections, and little bits of conversations made I actually stopped and thought about how many people we walk past on an average day that have a backstory of maybe something hard in their life, because everyone does have a story.

[Laurie Byro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very hard to read, but prolly very true about abuse in a facility like "Greystone" in the New Jersey area, a place for the insane. This included Down syndrome people, like a cousin who was catagorized as a "moron" (they did that until the 70's in this country) and then "retarded" became the polite word. From the point of view of a child "Ruby" who is sent there when her mama remarries and has another child. Upsetting to read, well written.

[Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have ever read, it is a tear-jerker and then you're jumping for joy in the span of like three pages. I really suggest this book to anyone who could use a good cry. The description makes you feel like you are there with the characters, seeing smelling tasting the same thing.

[Hifza · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was enthralling. the voice gave it depth and ruby jean had a wonderful knack for describing things. it made the experience even more amazing. the story line was bitter and melancholy and at times the things mentioned were revolting. and from sad we went to anxious and anticipating as she ran away and then happy and relieved as she finally found her family.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book really good and it had a great story line. i liked the way that the author wrote the book in the main characters voice and how she would have talked. It shows what people had to go through not that long ago.

[Shalom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book. I love how the point of view was a woman with Down syndrome. I like that it showed a lot of the ugly. The ending was very cute. I think this displayed how society was, and how it felt. I just think overall this was an amazing book. Short book, but perfect!

[TristanD · Rating 5 out of 5]

You could read this book for a day
My class read this (it took a while) but whenever we put the book away, everyone wanted to read for longer. In short, a very good read, would recommend

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic, I typically don’t like reading. However this book was so fantastic that as a class we could not put it down. As Ruby Jean would say “The book was a home run”.

[Asta Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

aaah Ruby Jean. Indeed, she's a hidden gem 💎 💎💎💎

[Evey Miell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it, not very good, but I get the message

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over 10 years ago and it was the first book to make me cry! Who would have thought that picking out a random book based on the pretty cover would result in pain that I still feel?

[Rygoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this Book so much. I like the style the book was written in, its just like Ruby Jean actually wrote the book.This book is a book I would read again, and i never read a book two times. If you want to read Free As A Bird get ready to laugh and maybe cry because of the adventure that Ruby Jean has gone through.Anyways this is a awesome book and i hope you read it!

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great example of one with a misleading synopsis. That last sentence about the talking crow almost turned me right off the book, because I didn't really want to read a book about such a serious subject that was going to incorporate talking animals (which, unless they're done really well, are a great way to turn a good story into a ridiculous one). Luckily, there's no anthropomorphic fantasy in this book. Instead, it's an interesting, emotional, character-driven historical fiction novel.

At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the way Ruby Jean talked. Quite a few of the words she used were spelled phonetically, and it took a while for me to get used to that. Once I did, however, I realized how necessary those spellings were to help bring Ruby Jean to life on the page. And I ended up really, really liking her character. I rooted for her, I felt heartbroken for her, and I wanted things to turn out well for her. Despite being told all her life that she wasn't smart, she actually was; maybe not in the IQ sense, but she was quite observant and had a lot more sense and compassion than some of the other characters in the book. The staff of Woodlands made some excellent villains... but it's disturbing that these characters' actions were based on ones that actually happened. (The author's note at the back of the book is well worth reading, as well, for some historical context.)

For such a character-driven novel, quite a lot happens. There is a well-crafted story that moves along at a nice pace, even within the institution. I was never bored while I was reading this book. The pace picks up even more in the second half, most of which takes place outside of the institution (see what I mean about the synopsis being misleading?).

This is one of those books that I found at the library and picked up because it was set locally (which is always kind of cool to see) and because it was short. What I found was a wonderful little novel about a fairly recent time in history and the people that our society wanted to forget about.

Quotable moment:

When Grace left Morris said to Bernice, "I can't believe the little cretin behaved herself. Little Miss Do-Gooder's probably just too embarrassed to tell us how Ruby Jean acted up." Then he looked at me. "Did you bite her, Ruby Jean? C'mon, you can tell Morris."

Morris dint knowed I'd never want to bite Grace. Sure was gettin a feelin bout bitin him though.

http://theladybugreads.blogspot.ca/20...

[Carmen Yeung · Rating 4 out of 5]

When i first got this book, i liked the title right away. Everyone kept saying they want to be as free as a bird, so i thought reading this book will make me understand that phrase better. Instead i started understanding how is it like to live in a world that Ruby Jean experiences. Ruby Jean is a girl that was born with Down Syndrome, but she is a very quick learner when she watches carefully. Her parents didnt want her, due to her extra chromosome and i thought they were very cruel to her. She grew up being called a moron and stupid, i thought those people didnt have a right to call her that since she didnt choose to be born like this. She ignore their thoughts and continued her life living, she learned to do basic things that a regular person can do. She also learned to communicate. She loved her grandmother, but she started being scared of ambulence afterward. The ambulence took her grandmother away to heaven, and thats why she never liked to see anyone go on the ambulence. She had a very pure heart and mind, no one understands her and all they do is bully her. She used what she know to tell others she has a right to speak up. Then she was adopted into a family, they didnt mind of her disorder, instead they loved her. She thought her pap was send away in an ambulence and she ran, since she thought it was her fault. She didnt want to go back to Woodlands school. Soon her adopted parents found her and told her everything was alright. They eventually became a real family and Ruby Jean grew up normally after just with an extra chromosome. I thought people shouldnt discriminate against another just because they are different, we are different from each other but just in another way. I also thought that Ruby Jean is a special girl, not because of her disorder, because of her way of thinking. She thinks of everything so straight forwardly that no one else can do so, she is a kind girl. I thought i recommand this to nearly anyone, because i thought it is really interesting. Especially to our age, because it sets a good foundation to not be discriminative to others when we go into the society. This book taught me to not just look at someone without seeing what they do, the looks of faces isnt everything, but without personality we will never know what that person is actually going through.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I think anyone who works with people who have disabilities should read. It's like Ben Mikaelson's Petey, but Ruby Jean, a girl with Down Syndrome, is not as severely disabled. Ruby Jean is institutionalized at the age of 8 after her grandmother dies and her mother decides she can't take care of her. Ruby Jean is both heartbroken and very angry and acts out that anger. The "uniforms" at the institution label her a "behavior problem" and act accordingly, punishing her and treating her badly. Besides this abuse she is subjected to sexual abuse, boredom, and total lack of humaness. Eventually she is singled out to participate in a program to help her to become ready to move into the community. She is taught by a wonderful social worker who shows her how to take care of her basic needs and how to cook for herself, pick clothes out, etc. She moves into a foster home with a wonderful couple who continue to allow her to grow and learn independence. That's not the end of it. She runs away and is homeless for a while, but it ends up happily for Ruby Jean.
I loved this book, and consumed it in a couple of hours but...having worked with people who have developmental disabilities, it was highly unrealistic in some parts. Not the parts about the abuse. That was very real. But her one on one help from the social worker was crazy. Their caseloads are way too high to give that kind of attention to one individual every day. And her homelessness seems highly suspect. If she had Down Syndrome, then she would be recognizable as such and the soup kitchen nun would have done something to help her sooner than she did.
Still, I loved this book.

[Canadian Children's Book Centre]

Reviewed by Kris Rothstein

Ruby Jean is a girl with Down syndrome who is discarded into an institution by her callous mother after her grandmother and caregiver passes away. The loving and curious girl is soon crushed by cruel staff and she is the victim of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Many years later, two determined social workers are able to place Ruby Jean with a caring foster family where she learns to trust people again and to hold a job. When Ruby Jeans fears she may be sent back to the institution, she runs away and ends up on the streets, setting the stage for more life lessons and an emotional reunion.

The topics of tolerance and understanding explored in Free as a Bird are ideal for a younger audience, but the disturbing and mature themes make this a difficult book to recommend for middle grade readers. The narrative style (very conversational and written in Ruby Jean’s idiomatic English) is less appropriate for teens though, so the audience for this book is fairly hard to categorize. With the right guidance, however, Ruby Jean can be an eye-opening and inspirational character for almost any age. The book has its flaws — it is often simplistic and almost every character is either all bad or all good — but this is still a powerful and intense story about how recently our society considered some children to be worthless and expendable and a reminder that this is still the case in many places.

Canadian Children's Book News (Summer 2010, Vol. 33, No. 3)

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good brief exploration into the treatment of the mentally handicapped in the past. As I read, I rememberd with some shame the twinges of discomfort I felt meeting people with these disabilities as a child.

In the story Ruby Jean suffers humiliation in an institution. She then gets chosen to participate in a life skills program where she flourishes. Eventually she is placed with a family for life outside the institution, but a misunderstanding causes her to run away & she ends up homeless for several months.

What is clear throughout all this is both that Ruby Jean sees the world through a simple lens, and that's not necessarily bad. She has a kind of wisdom that comes with her inability to be savvy. She judges people on whether they are kind or cruel to her. Yes her disability causes complicaitons for her, but when she is on the street, she befriends another homeless lady and judges her to be as good a person as the nun who feeds them and the family she lived with, despite the fact that more intellectually sophisticated individuals might not see it that way. Ruby Jean is a compassionate and forgiving person.

Recommended for fans of books like "A Child Called It" who want the drama of human's horrible treatment toward others and those who overcome it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the author's note first. If I hadn't, I don't think I would have liked this as much as I did. When I started reading, I was bothered by the first-person format of the story, and immediately questioned the authenticity of the style. After reading the author's note, in which she describes her experiences working at the Institution where the story is set and tells about her life with a sister who had Down Syndrome, I was more willing to "believe" the story.

Ruby Jean is a young woman with Down Syndrome, sent to live in a Canadian institution for essentially the unwanted. Her voice is mixed with dialogue from the people around her, and creates an enthralling story of the way society used to shut away those who were different.

This story hits on another aspect of history that is as fascinating as the Salem Witch Trials or the Holocaust. There is something both shameful and horrible about these episodes in history, and they often make me think about how I would have acted in the given situation - would I have acted as poorly as those who succumbed to societal or peer pressure, or would I have been brave enough to stand up for what was right?

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby Jean has Down Syndrome. Her grandmother had been the one person to really show Ruby Jean any love. And one day, an ambulance came to Ruby Jean's house, and took her grandmother away to heaven. After her grandmother dies, her mother and her mother's boyfriend Harold decide that Ruby Jean is just too much to handle. They drop her off one day at an institution called Woodlands. Woodlands is one of those institutions you hear about and see in the movies. They treat the patients horribly, and Ruby Jean decides that she's going to stop talking. Forever.

The story is narrated by Ruby Jean, so it takes a little adjustment to really hear her voice. She describes her experience at Woodlands, and the story follows her ups and downs as she eventually gets out of that institution and on with her life. It's a thin, quick read. I'm probably putting this on a middle school booklist. It includes some discussion links and an author's note in the back.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the story of Ruby Jean Sharp's life growing up at the Woodlands School. She was born in 1957 with Down syndrome. She was raised by her grandmother until her grandmother's death when Ruby Jean was 8 years old. Her life took a dramatic turn when her mother dropped her off at the Woodlands School in 1965 or so. The book is written through Ruby Jean's eyes and in her words.


The author's sister was born with Down syndrome in 1954 and the author worked at the real Woodlands School in Canada briefly, so this story is based on the facts of the time for people with special needs. It truly does show how far we have come in how society treats those with special needs.

[Chuk Ho Wu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy Barber is about a girl named Ruby Jean who was born with a disability called Down syndrome. This disability wasn’t a good thing for Ruby because she got made fun of in many ways such as being called names by the people around her. I liked this book because even though Ruby has some sort of disability, she continues to live on. This book made me think about the real world and how people judge others by how they act or look. I also like how the title is a contradiction to Ruby’s life because Ruby’s life was pretty much tied down by the people around her but she still continues to live on and ignore other people’s saying about her.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The shocking revelation of our society comes completely in this book. As this book portrays a young girl, Ruby Jean, who is diagnosed with a disorder called down syndrome where it causes one to learn slower than an average person, speak differently, and contain an abnormal appearance. And because of this disorder, many mortified her for the way she was. However, she continued to strive for her passions and to express who she was. This book was indeed an inspiring book, as it shows that no matter who you are you are, you should never look down on yourself and that you should never give up and never back down. The power of courage and strength lies in oneself.