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| 1 | Burnside | Children's- Newbery Award Winners |
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The Higher Power of Lucky
by Susan Patron and Matt Phelan
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9781416901945 |
Only 1 left in stock at $10.50!
Awards
Winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal
Video
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Lucky, age ten, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has.
It's all Brigitte's fault — for wanting to go back to France. Guardians are supposed to stay put and look after girls in their care! Instead Lucky is sure that she'll be abandoned to some orphanage in Los Angeles where her beloved dog, HMS Beagle, won't be allowed. She'll have to lose her friends Miles, who lives on cookies, and Lincoln, future U.S. president (maybe) and member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. Just as bad, she'll have to give up eavesdropping on twelve-step anonymous programs where the interesting talk is all about Higher Powers. Lucky needs her own — and quick.
But she hadn't planned on a dust storm.
Or needing to lug the world's heaviest survival-kit backpack into the desert.
Review:
"Patron's poignant Newbery-winning story about a girl who fears being abandoned by her legal guardian — and her only semblance of a family —sails along with believable childlike rhythms and kid's-eye-view observations. Listeners will especially appreciate Campbell's subtlety and smooth, comforting delivery in a heartbreaking scene in which 10-year-old Lucky recalls, with gentle support from her best friend, her deceased mother's memorial service. On the remainder of the recording, Campbell remains a welcoming guide to Lucky's world—populated by eccentric friends, the quirky townspeople of tiny, struggling Hard Pan, Calif. — and Brigitte, the guardian she desperately wants to keep, maybe with some help from a Higher Power. Campbell appropriately gives recent Parisian transplant Brigitte a French accent, though it's thankfully never overplayed. By program's end, listeners will be rooting for Lucky and Brigitte to remain together forever. Contains an interview with the author, in which Patron says she is working on a companion novel. Ages 9-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"Lucky's mix of meanness and big-heartedness makes her a multi-dimensional character whose predicament is compelling." Children's Literature
Review:
"Fans of novels by Deborah Wiles and Katherine Hannigan will be happy to meet Lucky." School Library Journal
Review:
"Readers will gladly give themselves over to Patron, a master of light but sure characterization and closely observed detail. A small gem." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"Patron's plotting is as tight as her characters are endearing. Lucky is a true heroine, especially because she's not perfect: she does some cowardly things, but she takes pains to put them to rights." Booklist
Synopsis:
Lucky, age ten, doesn't expect running away to be so complicated. A large cast of magnanimous surprises awaits her when she plans to hide from her guardian in the Mojave Desert. Illustrations.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 5 comments:
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meghanjanssen, January 31, 2008 (view all comments by meghanjanssen)
Of course, being employed in the children's literature industry, I felt obligated to read "that scrotum book" that just won the Newbery Medal, but I ended up being sweetly charmed by Patron's innocent protagonist. Lucky is an effectively enthralling and multi-dimensional female character with universal appeal in her desire for a sense of belonging and acceptance. I certainly recommend it as a quick read or a great read-aloud if you have kids.
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Pam in Kennewick, May 7, 2007 (view all comments by Pam in Kennewick)
We finished reading this book aloud last night. It is a terrific book - sweet and lovely without a smidgen of saccharine. As for the famous "naughty" word, well, it isn't a book about sex, or with anything inappropriate for someone over, say, 7 years old. However, I realized last night that the word (scrotum) is necessary, not for the plot, but for the artistic structure of the book. Read it and see if you agree with me!
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Janet Hamilton, March 1, 2007 (view all comments by Janet Hamilton)
What an honor to encounter an author unafraid of helping children to face whatever complications happen to occur in their lives. Lucky at age 10 knows that life can be both beautiful and scary. She knows that friends can be adorable and annoying, that losing someone you love challenges you sometimes to find out if you are just plain unlovable. She’s not afraid of facing up to what Alcoholics Anonymous is all about or figuring out the meaning of a word like “scrotum.” She doesn’t have to be protected from the realities of the world around her. She is a resourceful survivor and she knows she needs love. She knows she has a mean gland and she knows how to compensate. She’s trying to take all the complicated strands of her life, including her electrocuted mother, her absent father, and the beloved guardian who she fears will leave her and weave them into a beautiful neat 10 strand knot like her friend Lincoln knows how to create. She takes it all very seriously with a delightful sense of humor. Lucky is a real kid in a real world and she comes alive in a book that deserves medals not banning.
View all 5 comments
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9781416901945
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Atheneum Books
- Illustrator:
- Phelan, Matt
- Author:
- Author:
- Subject:
- Interpersonal Relations
- Subject:
- Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General
- Subject:
- Family - Orphans & Foster Homes
- Subject:
- Runaways
- Subject:
- Situations / Friendship
- Subject:
- Social Issues - Friendship
- Subject:
- Social Issues - Drugs, Alcohol, & Substance Abuse
- Copyright:
- 2006
- Publication Date:
- November 2006
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Grade Level:
- Children/juvenile
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 134
- Dimensions:
- 9.16x6.26x.68 in. .73 lbs.
- Age Level:
- 09-11
