| The Higher Power of Lucky |  | Author: Susan Patron
Creator: Matt Phelan
Brand: INGRAM BOOK & DISTRIBUTOR
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Seller: thermite-media
Rating:  82 reviews
Sales Rank: 15,872
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.9
MPN: ISBN9781416975571
ISBN: 1416975578
EAN: 9781416975571
ASIN: 1416975578
Publication Date: December 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
It's been two years since Lucky Trimble's mother died from accidental electrocution after a bad desert storm. Since then, Lucky has made the best of things, living in a series of interconnected trailers with her French guardian, Brigitte. Even though Lucky, who aspires to be a scientist like Charles Darwin (her dog is named HMS Beagle), tries hard to order her life like the insect specimens she collects, she's always a little worried. What if Brigitte --- her absent father's first wife, who planned to come to California just long enough to put Lucky in foster care --- ends up returning to her beloved France, leaving Lucky behind?
Maybe the answer to Lucky's problems lies with the mysterious "Higher Power" she often overhears members of various 12-step programs talking about. But what is Lucky's Higher Power? And where can she go to find it after she reaches rock bottom, when she discovers Brigitte's passport on top of her suitcase, ready for a return to France?
As Lucky works to find her Higher Power and finally recover from her mother's death, she interacts with many of her neighbors in tiny Hard Pan, California, which has 43 residents and only three paying jobs. Her eccentric friends include recovering alcoholic Short Sammy, knot expert (and future president) Lincoln Clinton Carter Kennedy, and little Miles, who is desperate for attention and obsessed with the book Are You My Mother?
Hard Pan may be a bit isolated and more than a little impoverished (all its inhabitants rely on monthly government surplus rations). What does this little town have to offer Brigitte, who is used to first-class restaurants, museums and really good cheese? Maybe if Lucky runs away, Brigitte will finally find a reason to stay in Hard Pan.
--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 82
 Beautiful book, not for the faint at heart, every word relevant February 19, 2007
Shulamit Widawsky (Northern Virginia, USA)
85 out of 87 found this review helpful
I bought this book for my 8 and 11 year old boys. And then I bought more for presents for my friends' kids.
The idea that some librarians are choosing to keep this book off the shelves due to the use of the word "scrotum" right at the beginning of the book is more offensive than the word. Reality check: my boys have lots of words for that part of the anatomy, it's about time they read the proper word used in context of another boy saying it.
Surprisingly, if it is the "word" that stuns people, then they haven't read the book and thought about how stunning it is to consider a child (Lucky) listening in on a variety of 12-step groups. But those two aspects, and all the rest of the "shocking" things that happen in this book, are all absolutely appropriate, and beautifully written, to make this book something special.
I highly recommend "Lucky", and I fully agree with the age suggestion assigned it (9-12). My 8yo thought it was awesome, but then, he is in the 4th grade. My 11yo loved it.
The reality is kids in this age range have all kinds of scary ideas and powerful curiosities. Being able to read about Lucky going through such things gave my kids the opportunity to think about and talk about all kinds of things. As a family, we thought this was an excellent book.
As for the librarians and teachers who think they don't want to have to give a vocabulary lesson on the word scrotum, ask them how many times they have heard boys in the 9-12 age range yell a variety of less savory words for that part of their anatomy. The scientifically correct word is always worth teaching.
Read it for yourself, and see.
Lucky is as lucky does January 22, 2007
Kelly Herold (Smalltown, Midwest)
51 out of 54 found this review helpful
Lucky has not had it, well, lucky. Her father has abandoned her, her mother died in the desert, and she lives in a tiny dusty town of 43 residents.
Lucky's town, Hard Pan, doesn't have much going for it. There's an improvised beauty salon, a post office, and the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. Lucky cleans up the Visitor Center, and spends her time eavesdropping on the Anonymous meetings (smokers, drinkers, overeaters, and gamblers). She likes their stories and she's especially inspired by their search for the Higher Power. If only she, Lucky, could find the Higher Power. Then she could stabilize her life.
At the moment, Lucky doesn't feel that stable. She lives with her guardian, Brigitte, a Frenchwoman and Lucky's father's first wife. Brigitte is homesick, still speaks to Lucky with French terms of endearment, and, most importantly, has kept her passport. Lucky knows what that means: Brigitte will leave her in Hard Pan and head back to France.
Brigitte and Lucky live in an improvised home, comprised of three trailers linked together and mounted on concrete blocks. She has one friend in town, a knot-fantatic named Lincoln, and is followed around by a sad 5-year-old boy named Miles with a penchant for cookies and "Are You My Mother?"
Lucky resolves to follow the twelve step program, embarking on the "next step after rock bottom, the getting-control-of-your-life step." She decides to run away during a dust storm, taking a survival pack of her own design with her. Better leave than be left.
"The Higher Power of Lucky" is a charming, powerful tale for the younger Middle Grade reader (7-11). Susan Patron uses the Anonymous metaphor to good effect here. As Lucky herself explains, "It's almost impossible to get control of your life when you're only ten. It's other people, adults, who have control of your life, because they can abandon you." Isn't that the truth?
Lucky is a scrappy young protagonist and a straightforward narrator. She's also an intelligent girl, interested in biology and Charles Darwin, and means well in her search for the truth. The reader roots for her in her attempt to take control of her life, even when she makes mistakes, and is thrilled when she finally finds home.
Shouldn't be banned February 18, 2007
Chrissy K. McVay (North Carolina)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
I was surprised to hear that some libraries were banning this delightful book for one word, 'Scrotum'. A word I used to refer to 'that place' from the time my son was two years old without embarrassment or making him feel uncomfortable about his body. Since when was scrotum a dirty word? It reminds me of a time when my son was five and overheard the word 'vagina' while we were in the waiting room of my doctor's office. When he curiously asked me what it meant, I was able to explain it in a way appropriate for his age without a red face or the type of reaction that would make him self-conscious. Perhaps grown-ups need to do a bit more 'growing up', for these words are 'out there' in the real world and banning a book isn't going to take away all exposure to commonly used dialogue about the human anatomy (unless you raise your child in a bubble). This is a good children's book, and obviously I'm not the only one who thinks so or it wouldn't have won an award. As parents, perhaps we need to help children feel good about themselves on the inside, and our reactions to words that describe them on the outside can sometimes make the difference between them feeling comfort, or discomfort about their own bodies. As for my own son, he's a mature, confident twenty-one year old in college who shows no signs of 'mental damage' from hearing the words scrotum, vagina, rectum, (he was present when our dog had to have a 'rectal' thermometer), etc. at a young age. I believe many adults have to get over their own childhood memories of unnatural reactions to medical terms for the anatomy, and that's the real reason they avoid books that might put them in the position of explaining anything 'natural'.
But enough of that. This is a fantastic children's story with great illustrations that I found very enjoyable to read, and I plan on reading it to my future grandchildren.
Chrissy K. McVay
Author of 'Souls of the North Wind'
Yes, here is another Newbery medal book to argue for . . . February 2, 2007
mcHaiku (Brown County INDIANA)
52 out of 61 found this review helpful
. . . yet oddly, Amazon reviewers seem to be coy about mentioning the shock factor in Susan Patron's winning book for middle-schoolers. Will readers divide into two groups: those who quit at the "s" word, and the others who continue beyond page 1 to discover the same word in the story's almost-last page? Regarding the first group, is the author saying "well, that's their problem"? The only objectors MAY turn out to be practiced book banners and parents who cannot bring themselves to teach their children biological terms, or school board members who dread to spend time defending freedoms. Does Susan Patron ponder whether someone writing about hope & growing up needs to fall back on the shock factor?
There are other attention-getters such as young friend Lincoln & his passion for the International Guild of Knot-Tyers, revelations of members practicing twelve-step programs, the seldom-used topic of 'cremains.' The Found Object Wind Chime Museum & Visitor Center could also qualify as unusual.
A ten-year-old girl living in Hard Pan CA acquires a live-in guardian, Brigitte, from France. The desert town is a dot on the map with 43 inhabitants. Some attend "anonymous" meetings & Lucky listens to their witnessing surreptitiously. Her goal is to discover a Higher Power and surmount her own life problems; in particular, to prevent her guardian from returning to Paris.
When the 'signs' are right Lucky takes her survival backpack & HMS Beagle, her loyal canine companion, on a carefully planned getaway. This does succeed in drawing attention to her fears & subsequently those needs are properly buttoned up because Lucky, a smart young fan of Charles Darwin, has Patron's young audience latching on to the story like tagalong Miles.
Two mentions regarding a shock element: I had just begun reading "Lucky" before watching the 1987 film "I Heard the Mermaids Singing." It included a too-funny shocker: a Kabayaki eel (?) entree served at a Japanese restaurant. And that brought back a quotation of Frank Lloyd Wright about the Soldiers & Sailors monument in the center of Indianapolis: "I remember that . . . and I presume that was its purpose."
If this Newbery medal winner elicits negative reactions from you, try to remember the word "scrotum" is not a serpent arranged artistically on a dinner plate, or something to detour school board members from getting beyond tests & standards. This is not an example of tabloid mentality invading our brains. Reviewer mcHAIKU finds this a thought-provoking, entertaining story that is cooky-coated to allow childhood realities to filter through. It is as beautifully crafted as the intricate rose knot presented to Lucky by an admiring future president, and as 'swift' as her improvised disposition of her mother's ashes. Lucky is neither 'slow' nor lacking ingenuity.
Don't let little things turn you away..... February 24, 2007
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Lucky Trimble is a 10-year-old scientist living in Hard Pan, CA, a town with only 43 citizens. Her best friends, a dog named HMS Beagle, a recovered alcoholic cowboy named Short Sammy, a knot tying president-to-be named Lincoln, and a cookie-eating five-year-old named Miles. She lives in a series of 3 connected trailers with her Brigitte, a young French woman who loves to cook but (according to Lucky) probably doesn't always love her job as a gaurdian ever since Lucky's mom died after a desert thunderstorm, whose ashes still sit in the urn Lucky cannot let go of.
I am a teen and I loved this book. It was nice, unique, and short, too, and wasn't 100 pages too long like last year's Newbery Metal, "Criss-Cross". It is very original with simple pencil illustrations, which was a nice touch, and will probably keep its young readers interested. I cannot think of any other book that is similar to "The Higher Power of Lucky".
Don't let the use of the "s" word on the first page turn you away. Of course, I was surprised and for this reason it may be an iffy read-aloud. I do believe the author could have chosen many other more appropriate places for the dog to get bitten on, but that is beyond the point. Ms. Patron chose this word and that is what is published; that was her own free choice as an author to include that in her book, just as it was to include Lucky listening in on people's testimonies in the Smoker, Alcoholic, and Drug meetings. You can make your own choice whether to include this in your children's library or not, but the "s" word reference seems to be causing a stir and I can completely understand why, but kids need to read, and this is literature, and literature and books are very important. A few sentences shouldn't let a child miss out on the tale of Lucky and her adventures in Hard Pan and her search for a Higher Power. Who knows, maybe it'll just go right over some kids' heads?
Without a doubt, "Lucky" is truly a unique story without any comparisons!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 82
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