| "THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY"
Author: Susan Patron
Illustrator: Matt Phelan
Interest Level: Middle Grades (4-8)
ATOS Reading Level: 5.9
AR Points: 5.0
Publisher Recommended Age: 9-11
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Aladdin
Book Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 134
Book Description:
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. Or a troublesome five-year-old turning up, minus one shoe, with a cholla burr stuck into his heel.
And she hadn't counted on discovering the many different ways of defining "family".
This book is the first of an intended trilogy. The second book "Lucky Breaks" is planned for publication in 2009. The author is currently working on the final book in the trilogy for future publication.
Book Group Guide:
Book Reviews:
Booklist: "Lucky, with a personality that fans of Ramona Quimby will easily recognize and appreciate...is a true heroine."
Book Awards:
- USA: Newbery 2007
- USA: ALA (American Library Association), Notable Children's Book
- USA: Cooperative Children's Book Council, Choice Book
- USA: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award
- USA: Kirkus Reviews, Editor's Choice
About the Author:
Susan Patron (b. 1948 in Los Angeles, California) is an author of children's books. In 2007, she won the Newbery Award for The Higher Power of Lucky. Patron's first children's book, Burgoo Stew, was published in 1990. It was followed by three more picture books and the book Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe, which won the 1993 Parent’s Choice Award. Currently she is working on a sequel to Lucky called "Lucky Breaks".
Patron claims to have spent most of her life at the Los Angeles Public Library, both as a child and an adult. She served as their Juvenile Materials Collection Development Manager until her retirement in March 2007. She was a Senior Librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library, where she began in 1972.
She reviews children’s literature, has taught and lectured on the subject, and has served on boards and committees in the field. When not at work, Susan writes, reads, and makes flaming desserts. She lives with her husband, Rene, in Los Angeles and in a small cabin in the high desert of the Eastern Sierras.
Controversy has arisen over the book due to the use of the word "scrotum" on its first page. A number of school libraries have decided to ban or otherwise censor the book according to a New York Times article. While some accuse the author of attempting "Howard Stern-type shock treatment", author Susan Patron described the passage in question as being based on her personal knowledge of a rattlesnake biting a dog's scrotum, as well as an explanation of anatomy for readers 9 to 12 years old. She appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation to defend her choice of words.
Simon & Schuster have posted a video on their website where Patron discusses the book and her influences in an interview by fellow Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata. In this video Rick Richter, President and Publisher of the Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, states "Simon & Schuster ultimately hopes that readers will recognize this wonderful book as a whole, and the charm and innocence of its main character Lucky, and will see beyond one word and the controversy surrounding the book. Susan Patron has written a masterful novel celebrating small town values and we can only hope that her deserved Newbery winner is recognized for the treasure that it truly is." |
