The Higher Power of Lucky # 22

1.      Author: Susan Patron
2.      Title: The Higher Power of Lucky
3.      Illustrator: Matt Phelan
4.      Genre: Juvenile Fiction
5.      Subgenre: Chapter Book
6.      Theme: Abandoned Children, Interpersonal relationships, runaways, and friendships
7.      Primary and secondary Characters: Lucky and Brigitte, HMS Beagle, Miles, and Lincoln
8.      Awards: Newberry Award
9.      Date of Publication: 2006
10.  Publication Company: Simon &Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
11.  A summary about the book and how you will use it in your classroom.

Lucky is quirky ten year old little girl living in a small town in California, she had experienced several issues in her life that some people never have to.  Her mother passed away after being electrocuted in a storm.  Lucky’s father, who had little to do with her, asked Brigitte to come take care of his daughter from France.  Lucky find a passport and suitcase of Brigitte’s and ran away because of her underlying fears of being abandoned.  She get caught in a dust storm and finds her five year old friend Miles, they find shelter until they are found.  They journey leads Lucky’s to closure from the death of her mother and leads to her learning to trust Brigitte, who loves her very much.  I don’t know that I would read this to a classroom because of some of the deep emotions that it includes.  There are many student the experience abandonment and death of a parent and those are issues that can cause students to get upset.  There are also discussions on “12 step system” of addiction that would to be explained to students along with the definition of scrotum. These topics can become very big issues with parents and guardians.