Patron, Susan. (2006). The Higher Power of Lucky. Illus. Matt Phelan. New York, New York: Atheneum Books.
Brief Annotation: Ten year old Lucky has been living with her guardian, Brigitte, in the tiny desert town of Hard Pan, California for the two years since her mother died. She is happy playing with her friends, Lincoln, an expert knot-tier, and young Miles, who never goes anywhere without his copy of Are You My Mother?. She has one of the few jobs in town, cleaning up outside the town museum where she eavesdrops on twelve step meetings and becomes fascinated with the idea of finding her own higher power. Then one day she finds Brigitte's passport in her suitcase, and Lucky concludes that Brigitte is going back to France. She decides to run away during a sandstorm, only to discover Miles stuck in the storm, also. Lucky has to decide between running away and rescuing her young friend, and makes an interesting, mature decision when the town comes looking for them.
Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction
Grade Level: 3-6
Readers who will like this: Readers who like stories about kids making difficult decisions, kids who like stories set in the desert, readers who like books with quirky characters
Response/Rating (1-4): 4. I liked how Patron developed the characters--while they are unusual and have odd traits, she does a good job of making their actions and choices believable.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Have you ever looked at a "Slow Children at Play" sign? Have you ever wondered what that means?
Reading Strategies Connection:
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