Ruckman, Ivy 1931–

PERSONAL: Born May 25, 1931, in Hastings, NE; daughter of Joy Uberto (a teacher and tree surgeon) and Lena Chloe Myers; married Edgar Baldwin Heylmun, December 17, 1955 (divorced, 1963); married Stuart Allan Ruckman (a dentist), June 6, 1965 (died, 1983); children: Kimberly Sue, William Bret, Stuart Andrew. Ethnicity: "American Caucasian." Education: Hastings College, B.A., 1953; graduate study at University of Utah, 1963.

ADDRESSES: Home—3698 Golden Hills Ave., Salt Lake City, UT 84121; (winters) 1165 Coyote Gulch Cir., Ivins, UT 84738.

CAREER: High school English teacher in Casper, WY, 1953–57; Skyline High School, Salt Lake City, UT, English teacher, 1962–65, creative writing instructor, 1970–72; writer, 1974–. Member of Hastings College Alumni Foundation, Willa Cather Memorial Foundation, and Xetava Gardens.

MEMBER: Nature Conservancy.

AWARDS, HONORS: First place in Utah Fine Arts Contest, 1982, for What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?; Outstanding Alumni Award, Hastings College, 1984; Literary Contribution Award, Mountain Plains Library Association, 1985, for body of work; citation for "notable children's trade book in the field of social studies," National Council on the Social Studies and Children's Book Council, 1987, for This Is Your Captain Speaking; Junior Literary Guild selection, citation for "outstanding science trade book for children," National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council, 1984, "children's choice" selection, International Reading Association and Children's Book Council, 1984, Golden Sower award (grades 4-6), Nebraska Library Association, 1986, Sequoyah Children's Book Award, Oklahoma Library Association, 1987, South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award, South Dakota Library Association, 1987, Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award, Friends of the Minnesota Valley Regional Library, 1988, and Iowa Children's Choice Award, Iowa Educational Media Association, 1989, all for Night of the Twisters.

WRITINGS:

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Who Needs Rainbows?, Messner (New York, NY), 1969.

Encounter, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1978.

Melba the Brain, illustrated by Ruth Van Sciver, Westminster, 1979.

What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1983, revised edition, Dell (New York, NY), 1988.

In a Class by Herself, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1983.

The Hunger Scream, Walker (New York, NY), 1983.

Night of the Twisters, Harper (New York, NY), 1984.

This Is Your Captain Speaking, Walker (New York, NY), 1987.

No Way Out, Harper (New York, NY), 1988.

Who Invited the Undertaker?, Harper (New York, NY), 1989.

Melba the Mummy, Dell (New York, NY), 1991.

Pronounce It Dead, Bantam (New York, NY), 1994.

Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R, Bantam (New York, NY), 1994.

In Care of Cassie Tucker, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1998.

(With P.J. Petersen) Rob&Sara.com Delacorte (New York, NY), 2004.

Author of the screenplay Hell and High Water, an adaptation of the book No Way Out; editor of a class-written television play for an episode of the television series Room 222, American Broadcasting Companies. Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Jack and Jill, Cricket, and Ranger Rick.

ADAPTATIONS: The novel Night of the Twisters was adapted for television and broadcast as a movie by Fox Broadcasting Company and the Family Channel.

SIDELIGHTS: Ivy Ruckman is the author of several award-winning novels for young adults. Popular with students, Ruckman's novels have been cited for their well-paced plots, realistic dialogue, and plausible solutions to the kinds of problems teenagers face. One of her most popular books, Night of the Twisters, is unusual in her body of work for being based on an actual event, in this case a night during which a small town in Nebraska was hit by a series of tornadoes. Night of the Twisters is not unique among Ruckman's books in its reliance on action to propel the plot, however, inspiring some reviewers to recommend her books for reluctant readers. Other works deal with problems that are less dramatic, such as finding a boyfriend for a widowed mother, cross-generational relationships, or dealing with bullies at summer camp. Whatever her theme, Ruckman has been cited throughout her career for her storytelling abilities, including swift pacing and strong character development, qualities that make her novels especially attractive to young adult readers.

The youngest of seven children born to a Nebraska family during the Great Depression, Ruckman has stated that her materially poor childhood enriched her immeasurably by forcing her to develop her imagination to the fullest. Throughout her childhood Ruckman was closest to her brother William, with whom she shared innumerable adventures, as she once told CA: "On a typical afternoon an upended stool became a ship's parapet, a rag mop displayed the colors. The longest stirring spoon in the kitchen stood by for an oar. The Captain and his First Mate, thus grandly appointed, rolled out to sea with solemn purpose—the capture of pirates. Together William and I built igloos in the Arctic tundra, stalked big game in steaming jungles while black panthers stalked us; we performed daring feats on a slender bar and did acrobatics on the broad-backed workhorses who always looked astonished to find themselves the dappled darlings of the circus ring. Christmas opulence, our contemporaries will remember, consisted of one or two gifts and a sack of nuts and candy from church. One year the two of us exchanged Woolworth 'diamond' rings, then spent the entire holidays slinking about the house as jewel thieves."

Books contributed to the rich imaginative life of Ruckman and her brother. "If our shoes didn't always fit during those magic years, we nonetheless had books. Our mother read Robinson Crusoe to us before I was old enough to understand it. Our real bonanza, however, was to be found in the trash that our father hauled from people in town who owned and discarded books…. We also salvaged bookkeeping ledgers from the trash pile if they contained empty pages for drawing or writing." William grew up to become a cardiovascular surgeon, while Ruckman began her career as a schoolteacher, turning to writing full-time in 1974. Balancing her career with the demands of her family life was sometimes difficult, inspiring the author to pick up her pen wherever she happened to be, especially if she was outdoors. "I have a desk and a home office," Ruckman once commented, "but I end up writing everywhere—in the car, at auto repair shops, cross-legged on the porch swing, while lunching out. I do my best thinking and planning in the bathtub or the swimming pool. My husband, Allan, built a platform for me alongside our stream because I enjoy writing outdoors so much and because the properties of water seem to free my mind for creative thinking."

"For me, the writing itself is very difficult," Ruckman continued. "If I can produce two to four pages of prose in a day, I feel I've done well (at top speed one day I wrote thirteen pages of a novel; another time, creeping like a snail, I produced one paragraph). Because the sound of one's writing is so important, I rely heavily on my 'ear' for realistic dialogue, for the flow of my prose, for the sentence balance I want to achieve. The hardest part of writing, as I see it, is getting a story to work in the first place; the revising, or 'fine tuning,' is the most enjoyable. First and foremost, however, I want my characters to live and I want the reader to care about what happens to them. I become very much involved in the lives of my fictional 'children.' I succeed as a writer, I feel, only to the extent readers share my involvement."

Ruckman's novels for young adults address a variety of problems that young people may face. In The Hunger Scream, Lily, a teenage girl, becomes anorexic when her love for the boy next door is not requited, and her affection for him is disapproved of by her affluent parents because of his race. Ruckman was praised for her realistic portrayal of Lily's perspective, and for her attention to the often slow and painful recovery process. This Is Your Captain Speaking is another of Ruckman's early works focusing on family relations and social issues—in this case, old age and death. In the story, Tom befriends Roger, a resident at the retirement home where his mother works, as a way to escape his awkwardness in junior high school and his inability to approach Carmela, the girl he has a crush on. The subject of euthanasia arises as well as grief when Roger dies, and critics praised Ruckman's adroit blending of this serious business with the story of Tom's growing up and romance with Carmela. While some commentators cited the author for failing to develop Roger as a well-rounded character, This Is Your Captain Speaking was generally praised as a sensitive, well-written book. Zena Sutherland of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books commented: "The story, capably written, gives a positive view of intergenerational friendship and a perceptive picture of grief and the acceptance of loss." Booklist contributor Linda Ward Callaghan also offered a favorable review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, observing that "Ruckman focuses on the serious business of junior high with humor and compassion."

One of Ruckman's most popular works with both critics and readers is Night of the Twisters, which concerns the actions of two adolescent boys after a series of tornadoes. Dan and his best friend Arthur, both twelve, are babysitting Dan's baby brother when a tornado strikes the house and the surrounding town, bringing suspenseful chaos and confusion as the boys attempt to contact family members and friends and help in the rescue effort. "The story is exciting and fast paced," reported Elizabeth Mellett in her School Library Journal review. Some critics noted that characterization takes a back seat to action in this novel, but Sutherland of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books wrote that Ruckman "produces dialogue that sounds appropriate for a stress situation, and gives her characters some depth and differentiation." Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan similarly commented that "characterization is a bit flat, as it often is in adventure stories, but never inconsistent or unbelievable." Phelan called Night of the Twisters "a creditable adventure story with several vivid scenes."

No Way Out, like Night of the Twisters, is a suspenseful adventure story based on actual events. When a young couple takes an eleven-year-old boy hiking during their vacation, a flash flood brings disaster and a nightmarish struggle to survive. Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Colleen Macklin praised Ruckman's well-developed characters and noted that her attention to details of weather and geography underscores the credibility of this story. "The actions of the members of the party are authentic and readers will quickly sense that this author 'knows what she's talking about,'" Macklin commented.

In contrast to Night of the Twisters and Ruckman's other adventure stories, Who Invited the Undertaker? was dubbed by School Library Journal contributor Susan F. Marcus "a warm and happy family story about people who care about each other." In this work, seventh-grader Dale decides to take action when he hears his mother crying one night two years after his father's death. His solution, to place an ad in the personals column for her, does not bring the expected results, but does usher in welcome changes in their lives in the form of his mother's gradually increasing self-confidence. In a review in Booklist, Barbara Elleman noted Ruckman's "smooth integration of humor and a thoughtful underlying theme of family dynamics," concluding that Who Invited the Undertaker? is "heartwarming and true to contemporary times."

Ruckman is also the author of mysteries for middle-grade readers. Pronounce It Dead and Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R both feature best friends Katy and Andrea, small-town girls who get into trouble when, in the first book, they decide to help out some kids who come to town with the County Fair and Livestock Show and wind up becoming involved with possible drug traffickers. In Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R, as the two girls make their escape in a rowboat from an unhappy situation at summer camp. From that boat, they overhear a body being dumped into the lake. The girls' attempts to notify the police only raise the suspicion that they have been kidnapped. Reviews of these efforts were mixed. A commentator for Voice of Youth Advocates wrote: "While Katy and Andrea are sixth-graders, these stories are extremely innocent for today's middle-schoolers. There is no 'murder' or 'death' in either story." School Library Journal contributor Julie Halverstadt, however, called Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R "perfect light summer fare." Similarly, Chris Sherman of Booklist dubbed Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R "a completely plausible mystery with likable characters who behave (and sound) like real kids."

In a more recent novel, Cassie Tucker is an eleven-year-old farm girl living in Nebraska in the year 1899. With little advance notice, her recently orphaned cousin Evan arrives from Montana, an event that changes the family dynamic. Cassie's father is a devout preacher; Evan is not religious. Cassie was raised modestly, like most girls in rural Nebraska at the time; Evan introduces her to new adventures—and to feelings and doubts that she had not experienced before. In Care of Cassie Tucker follows the girl's awakening to the realities of the world beyond the farm and relates the heroic actions she undertakes on behalf of her cousin and her own brother. "Ruckman casually inserts informative historical nuggets into her story," observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer, but adds that the issues Cassie faces are "timeless." Booklist contributor Michael Cart also commented favorably on the author's "engaging re-creation of [the] frontier world."

While In Care of Cassie Tucker is set at the dawn of the twentieth century, Rob&Sara.com could hardly be more modern or more topical. The story of Rob and Sara is revealed entirely via e-mail messages between the two young people, and reviewers noted that it was also written via e-mail messages between Ruckman and coauthor P.J. Peterson. It is a story of two troubled young loners—misfits looking for a place where they could "belong." Sara is the child of a highly mobile military family, and Rob appears to be an emotionally neglected boy banished by uncaring parents to a strict boarding school. They meet through an Internet chat room for teenagers and grow closer with each successive e-mail until they reach a point where a face-to-face encounter seems imminent. Is it love, or is it possible that Rob is in no way the innocent person he claims to be? Booklist contributor Frances Bradford called the book "a suspenseful experiment." Catherine Ensley predicted in the School Library Journal: "Readers will fly through the pages until this mystery is resolved."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Babbling Bookworm, May, 1979, review of Encounter, p. 3.

Best Sellers, April 1, 1969, review of Who Needs Rainbows?, p. 22; August, 1983, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 195.

Booklist, October 15, 1978, review of Encounter, p. 369; April 1, 1983, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 1037; May 15, 1983, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 1197; November 1, 1983, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 404; December 1, 1984, Carolyn Phelan, review of Night of the Twisters, p. 528; November 15, 1987, Linda Ward Callaghan, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 572; June 1, 1988, review of No Way Out, p. 1668; October 1, 1989, Barbara Elleman, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. 355; July, 1994, Chris Sherman, review of Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R, p. 1949; January 1, 1995, review of Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R, p. 831; August, 1998, Michael Cart, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 2008; October 15, 2004, Frances Bradburn, review of Rob&Sara.com, p. 399.

Bookwatch, January, 1988, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 4.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 1969, review of Who Needs Rainbows?, p. 133; December, 1978, review of Encounter, p. 71; March, 1980, review of Melba the Brain, p. 140; April, 1983, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 157; May, 1983, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 177; December, 1983, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 77; November, 1984, Zena Sutherland, review of Night of the Twisters, pp. 54-55; November, 1987, Zena Sutherland, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 56; October, 1998, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 72; January, 2005, Karen Coats, review of Rob&Sara.com, p. 223.

Catholic Library World, May, 1970, review of Who Needs Rainbows?, p. 588; October, 1984, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 142.

Childhood Education, fall, 1989, review of No Way Out, p. 45.

Children's Book Review Service, February, 1979, review of Encounter, p. 70; February, 1980, review of Melba the Brain, p. 59; May, 1983, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 104; October, 1983, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 10; February, 1984, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 76; January, 1985, review of Night of the Twisters, p. 54; February, 1988, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 78; September, 1988, review of No Way Out, p. 12; November, 1989, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. 36; January, 1999, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 59.

Commonweal, March 22, 1985, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 177.

English Journal, November, 1990, p. 83.

Horn Book, October, 1983, Mary M. Burns, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 586.

Horn Book Guide, July, 1989, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. 72; spring, 1999, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 74.

Instructor, August, 1991, review of Night of the Twisters, p. 38.

Journal of Reading, October, 1979, review of Encounter, p. 89; January, 1984, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 374.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1969, review of Who Needs Rainbows?, p. 107; November 1, 1978, review of Encounter, p. 1194; October 1, 1987, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 1467; June 15, 1988, review of No Way Out, p. 903; September 15, 1989, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. 1408; July 1, 1998, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 972; October 1, 2004, review of Rob&Sara.com, p. 966.

Kliatt, January, 1989, review of Night of the Twisters, p. 62.

Learning, November, 1984, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 85.

Library Journal, April 15, 1969, review of Who Needs Rainbows?, p. 1800.

Library Media Connection, November, 1983, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 35; May, 1984, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 35; May, 1988, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 29.

MBR Bookwatch, January, 2005, Vicki Arkoff, review of Rob&Sara.com, p.

Publishers Weekly, October 9, 1987, Diane Roback, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 89; June 24, 1988, Kimberly Olson Fakih and Diane Roback, review of No Way Out, p. 114; August 17, 1998, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 73; November 29, 2004, review of Rob&Sara.com, p. 41.

Reading Teacher, May, 1990, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. 672.

School Library Journal, November, 1978, review of Encounter, p. 78; January, 1980, Mary I. Purucker, review of Melba the Brain, p. 75; April, 1983, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 116; August, 1983, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 79; January, 1984, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 88; December, 1984, Elizabeth Mellett, review of Night of the Twisters, p. 86; October, 1987, Susan Schuller, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 129; August, 1988, Barbara Chatton, review of No Way Out, p. 107; September, 1989, Susan F. Marcus, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. 277; August, 1994, Julie Halverstadt, review of Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R, p. 158; October, 1998, Carol A. Edwards, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 146; December, 2004, Catherine Ensley, review of Rob&Sara.com, p. 152.

Social Education, April, 1988, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 319; May, 1999, review of In Care of Cassie Tucker, p. 3.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1983, review of What's an Average Kid like Me Doing Way up Here?, p. 208; December, 1983, review of In a Class by Herself, p. 280; June, 1984, review of The Hunger Scream, p. 97; December, 1987, review of This Is Your Captain Speaking, p. 238; October, 1988, Colleen Macklin, review of No Way Out, p. 184; December, 1994, review of Pronounce It Dead and review of Spell It M-U-R-D-E-R, p. 280; April, 1998, review of No Way Out, p. 42.

Wilson Library Bulletin, September, 1989, Ann Provost, review of No Way Out, p. 11; March, 1990, Jan McConnell, review of Who Invited the Undertaker?, p. S16.