Patron, Susan. 2006. The higher power of Lucky. Ill. by Matt Phelan. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 1416901949.
PLOT SUMMARY:
Fascinated by the twelve-step anonymous meetings held at nearby Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visiting Center, ten year old Lucky Trimble feels that she is need of a life altering event. Hoping to gain some wisdom from the anonymous meetings, Lucky seeks to find her own “Higher Power” that will change her life for the better. With the accidental death of her mother and an absent father who pawns her off on his first ex-wife, from France, Lucky struggles with her feelings of abandonment and fear of being shipped off to be a ward of the state.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Characters are revealed through narration, conversation and through the thoughts of the main character. Five year old Miles is described by Lucky as “only five, and … not a neat eater, plus he didn’t mind when HMS Beagle licked his hands.” Another character Dot was considered, “the bossiest and crabbiest person in Hard Pan [California]…”. The main characters strengths and weaknesses are also revealed through action and narration. Lucky spies on various twelve-step annonymous meetings, her favorites being “…alcoholics, gamblers, smokers and overeaters…”. And in narration, “Lucky had a little place in her heart where there was a meanness gland.” Not the typical 10 year old girl, the character of Lucky is devoid of typical girlish stereotyping. Her guardian is an unrelated French woman who was lucky enough to be Lucky’s fathers first wife. Multiculturalism is added in with French words, such as maman (mother) and bisou (kiss). Illustrations in pen, ink and pencil bring the characters and desert California landscape to life.
Recently orphaned, Lucky has Brigette as her guardian until a foster family can be found. When her plot to find a Higher Power and a better life, fail to come about, Lucky decides to run away. Preparation for the event is evident in Lucky’s survival kit backpack mentioned through out the story and when she thinks to herself, “A ward must stay alert, carry a well-equipped survival kit at all times, and watch out for danger signs – because of the strange and terrible and good and bad things that happen when you least expect them to.”
The desert setting of Hard Pan, California a town with a population of only 43 people provided Lucky with a view consisting of a “jumble of trailers, sheds, outhouses, shacks and rusty vehicles”. Lucky’s own living arrangement consisted of three trailers connected together. The setting matches Lucky’s predicament of being stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place.
Concepts of self identity, self worth and sense of community are evident in this story. Lucky see’s herself as a budding scientist as she searches for her Higher Power. After successfully removing a snake from her family clothes dryer and pondering on the ways to prevent snakes from entering in again, Lucky knows that she is a “… highly evolved human being.” She emphasizes with the numerous anonymous twelve-step meetings which detail the communities need for survival day to day. Lucky thinks to herself, “It’s almost impossible to get control of your life when you’re only ten.” The misguided solution to her dilemma is to run away and gain control of her life. The dialogue is straightforward and the author does a good job of balancing narration and dialogue.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “This character-driven novel has an unusually complicated backstory, and a fair amount of exposition. Yet, its quirky cast and local color help to balance this fact, and the desert setting is fascinating. Lucky's tendency to jump to conclusions is frustrating, but her struggle to come to terms with her mother's death and with her new life ring true. Phelan's cover and line drawings are simple and evocative, a perfect complement to the text.”
Review from BOOKLIST: “With a personality that may remind some readers of Ramona Quimby, Lucky, who is totally contemporary, teeters between bravado--gathering insect specimens, scaring away snakes from the laundry--and fear that her guardian will leave her to return to France. … 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.”
Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “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.”
Newbery Award 2007
American Library Association Notable Books for Children 2007
FOCAL (Friends of Children and Literature) Award 2007
CONNECTIONS
Activities
*Encourage students to create Acrostic poems for each main character in the story.
*Have students construct “Brown Bag Book Reports” by collecting objects with which to retell or summarize the story.
*Create bookmarks illustrating scenes from the story to share and trade.
*Science connection: Have students research Charles Darwin, the HMS Beagle and insects mentioned in the story.
* Encourage students to read books mentioned in other books by sharing the location of the two books, Tree of Life by Peter Sis and Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman, in The Higher Power of Lucky, in the school library.
*Have students draw, list or construct survival kits for school, bug collecting and other situations, such as camping, etc. Encourage students to share instances where survival kits might have been useful in their lives.
