Newbery Award Winner - The Higher Power of Lucky
Friday, September 28, 2007 by Kristin
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron wasn't originally on my list for the Book Awards Reading Challenge. I enjoyed this Newbery Award winner so much, though, that I wanted to share my thoughts with other challenge participants.
We meet the protagonist of this novel, Lucky Trimble, when she is eavesdropping on an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Her town being very small, only 43 people, she is able to immediately identify the voices of the participants as they talk about hitting bottom and then finding their "higher power." Lucky wonders about this higher power and wants to know how to find hers. Obviously she can't ask anyone because then they'd know she was eavesdropping! Lucky needs her higher power because she thinks her guardian, her father's ex-wife Brigitte, is planning to return to her home in France, leaving Lucky to be a ward of the state.
I really enjoyed this sweet little book about belonging, accepting loss, and moving on. I liked Lucky a lot and wouldn't mind meeting her in future books from Susan Patron! This coming week is Banned Books Week at your local library and that is actually one of the reasons I read this book. It seems some people think the word "scrotum" is inappropriate for the target audience of this book (ages 9-12). I, personally, prefer the use of anatomically correct terms and that is exactly how the word was used. Anyway, I had to check it out for myself and I'm glad I did!
Also posted on my blog here.
We meet the protagonist of this novel, Lucky Trimble, when she is eavesdropping on an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Her town being very small, only 43 people, she is able to immediately identify the voices of the participants as they talk about hitting bottom and then finding their "higher power." Lucky wonders about this higher power and wants to know how to find hers. Obviously she can't ask anyone because then they'd know she was eavesdropping! Lucky needs her higher power because she thinks her guardian, her father's ex-wife Brigitte, is planning to return to her home in France, leaving Lucky to be a ward of the state.
I really enjoyed this sweet little book about belonging, accepting loss, and moving on. I liked Lucky a lot and wouldn't mind meeting her in future books from Susan Patron! This coming week is Banned Books Week at your local library and that is actually one of the reasons I read this book. It seems some people think the word "scrotum" is inappropriate for the target audience of this book (ages 9-12). I, personally, prefer the use of anatomically correct terms and that is exactly how the word was used. Anyway, I had to check it out for myself and I'm glad I did!
Also posted on my blog here.
