shopping cart
Save up to 30% on our Staff Picks
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Powell's Q&A, Q&A | October 16, 2009

Gail Collins: IMG Powell's Q&A: Gail Collins



[My new book] starts in 1960 with a woman named Lois Rabinowitz, who was evicted from Manhattan traffic court for attempting to pay a parking ticket while wearing slacks. This was... Continue »
  1. $19.59 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

The Higher Power of Lucky

by Susan Patron and Matt Phelan

The Higher Power of Lucky Cover

Awards

Winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal

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.

Video

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 6 comments:
mimicoll, October 22, 2008 (view all comments by mimicoll)
this site helps your if you need help on your book
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(7 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)
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.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(7 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
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!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(12 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 6 comments

Product Details

ISBN:
9781416901945
Author:
Susan Patron and Matt Phelan
Publisher:
Atheneum Books
Illustrator:
Phelan, Matt
Author:
Phelan, Matt
Author:
Patron, Susan
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
Subject:
Missing children
Copyright:
Publication Date:
November 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
Children/juvenile
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
134
Dimensions:
916x626x68 73
Age Level:
09-11

Other books you might like

  1. $9.50 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    The Talented Clementine

    Sara Pennypacker and Marla Frazee
  2. $15.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list
  3. $10.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    Feathers

    Jacqueline Woodson
  4. $8.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    Hattie Big Sky

    Kirby Larson
  5. $6.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    Penny from Heaven

    Jennifer L Holm
  6. $3.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.