02 Jul 2011 20:28:11
Literary superstar Lauren Child has appointed a very special accomplice to help her create the new and exciting adventures of Ruby Redfort. Marcus du Sautoy, maths brainiac and professor at Oxford University, was asked by Child to join forces and be her 'super-geek consultant' for her new and eagerly anticipated series about a super-cool, young detective.
Familiar to those who have read and loved Lauren Child's Clarice Bean novels, Ruby will now have her very own series in which she, alongside her slick side-kick butler, will have to solve crimes, work sneakily undercover and escape evil villains. But, if Marcus du Sautoy has anything to do with it then they aren't the only challenges Ruby will face.
The cool-as-a-cucumber 13-year-old will also have to get to the bottom of tricky numeric puzzles and codes that Marcus has created especially for her.
"When Lauren approached me to help bring out Ruby's super-clever side there was no way I could say no," says Marcus.
And we're glad he didn't, because this exciting and unusual collaboration of writer and mathematician will bring together two of the very best in their fields to create a series that will not only be fascinating but also challenging.
Ruby is "a girl after my own heart", Marcus says, "cracking codes, solving puzzles and loving all things geeky".
