The Town That Drowned
Ruby is the main character of this novel and the story is told entirely from her point of view. She is a 14‑year-old girl. Near the beginning of the book she has a vision of some of the townspeople swimming around her and one person happens to be someone she had never seen before. Ruby gets bullied at school (mainly by June Crouse) as a result of this incident. To make things worse, she has a unique brother who is seen as a freak by others. She receives suspicion after the townspeople learn that her house would be saved from being flooded (Later on, it is revealed that Ruby had to move anyway since the water went further than expected). Her best friend and cousin is Sarah Carson who was always there for Ruby. However, in that year, Sarah moved to another town and leaving Ruby to face her troubles on her own. Later on in the story Ruby falls in love with Troy Rutherford, who happens to be her first love.
Ruby Lin
Lin was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, the eldest of four children, having one brother a year younger the other, six years younger, and a half-sister, ten years younger, from her father's second marriage. Her father was a businessman, and her mother a housewife. Her English name is from her mother's love of the jewel. After her parents' divorce, when Lin was seven years old, she lived with her mother, who took her to visit relatives in Japan every year. She graduated from Ri Xin Primary School and Zhong Dian High School. Lin originally planned on going to the United Kingdom to study after high school graduation, never considering the prospect of an acting career. However, she began her acting career at age seventeen as a part-time model. Her first TV commercial was for Jasmine Tea in 1994.