Book excerpt: In this coming-of-age novel by the award-winning YA author Fleur Beale, Ruby is about to discover that she has more backbone than she ever knew . . . Ruby Yarrow is 14 and she's the good girl who helps her mum. She cooks, she looks after the little ones and she would rather do all the work herself than make her brother Max help as he's meant to. That's okay with Ruby because she knows her mum loves her and relies on her. But it's not okay with Ruby's best friend Tia. 'You know what, Ruby Yarrow,' Tia yells, 'I'm not talking to you until you stop being a doormat.' That gets to Ruby. But how do you stop being a doormat? How do you get some backbone and start standing up for yourself? She can't even get her own bedroom, so why does she think she could get accepted for the school trip to Brazil? But Tia has made her start thinking - and things will never be the same again for Ruby. Or her family.