[...] Ruby felt bad that the teacher had taken the trouble to find “early literacy” materials for her—­but she’d just started at Town Square, was still getting used to the early hours. It wasn’t the right time. Besides, deep down, Ruby suspected she’d never be able to learn, no matter how hard she tried. When she was a girl, she got lead poisoning. A lawyer who’d filed a suit on behalf of the residents of a building Ruby had lived in when she was little said this was likely the reason some things were hard for her.