Rubyfruit Jungle
Publisher
Bantam
Publication Year
2015
ISBN
9781101965122
Pages
240 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
A landmark coming-of-age novel that launched the career of one of this country’s most distinctive voices, Rubyfruit Jungle remains a transformative work more than forty years after its original publication. In bawdy, moving prose, Rita Mae Brown tells the story of Molly Bolt, the adoptive daughter of a dirt-poor Southern couple who boldly forges her own path in America. With her startling beauty and crackling wit, Molly finds that women are drawn to her wherever she goes—and she refuses to apologize for loving them back. This literary milestone continues to resonate with its message about being true to yourself and, against the odds, living happily ever after.
Grade Level
9-12; Adult
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Adoption; Gay/Lesbian; adopted teenager; adoptive parents; lesbian; lesbian teenager; same-sex relationships
Main Character
female teenager
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
adoptive mother and father
LGBTQ+
lesbian female
Awards
Lee Lynch Classic Book Award, Lambda Literary Pioneer Award
Keywords
coming-of-age; sex positive; resourceful; rich versus poor; beauty; sex; high school; scholarship
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Brown, Rita Mae, "Rubyfruit Jungle" (2015). Diverse Families. 1776.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1776