Friday Night Book Review - Lucky

This week I was delighted to run across Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron (yes, I'm surprised by the books I find in my very small library, yes, sometimes I'm not the greatest librarian). I had read The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron in 2007, but had no idea there was a sequel (once again, I'm not the greatest at my job. Sometime remind me to tell you about a picture book that I'm going to write about myself called The Librarian that Couldn't Find Anything).


The Higher Power of Lucky is an example of my favorite style of children's fiction. It's deep and quirky. Realistic fiction without being all that realistic. I was so excited to read the sequel and review it for Friday Night Book Review, but instead I reread Higher Power and have only just begun Lucky Breaks.


Lucky is a little girl living out in the middle of the desert in a small town/large trailer park called Hard Pan. Her mother has died (btw....what's with dead moms and children's lit?) and is being fostered by her absent father's first wife. One of the noteworthy things about this book is that the word scrotum is on the first page. Because this book was the Newbery winner, a lot was made over the word being on the first page. The loveliness of the story was a bit overshadowed by the drama.

I haven't finished reading Lucky Breaks, but I will say that it is just as lovely as The Higher Power of Lucky. Lucky's new mom says that grown ups have more candles on their cakes because they have more wishes. And when Lucky feels lonely for her first mom, she imagines sitting on the edge of her mother's green chair and thinks about how she used to breathe with her. So nice.

Now, I'm off to finish the book and start working on a will. Moms are dropping like flies apparently.