To tell you the truth the book Lucky didn't grabbed my attention during the beginning of the book. But I must say I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would.
It's a typical story about a girl who has the reputation as A Lucky Girl; who at the same time is pretty, rich, and popular. ( )

Phoebe is so lucky. She has a great group of friends who are throwing the best ever 8th-grade graduation party. She lives in a nice house with a pool. And she gets pretty much whatever she wants. But when her mom loses her job, Phoebe feels like she's losing everything good about her life. She's too embarrassed to tell her friends that she can't afford to help pay for the party and she's starting to think they don't like her very much anyway. What's a girl to do?

While the portrayal of middle-school friendships was spot-on, I had a few problems with secondary characters and sometimes the writing was confusing. The only lower class girl that Phoebe knows is shown to live in a disgusting hovel with rusty vehicles in the front yard. And we only get glimpses of Phoebe's family members. Her sisters seem to be empathetic and warm one moment and brushing Phoebe off the next. This may have a place with middle-school fans of the Clique series and its ilk. ( )

Phoebe and her group of wealthy friends are planning the ultimate 8th grade graduation party. Then, her mother loses her job and Phoebe's lifestyle has to change. Will that affect her relationship with her friends and her status as one of the most popular girls in school?

The issues of popularity and friendship...big ones for middle school students are well-developed in this very readable novel. ( )

I really, really disliked this book. I don't like books about mean girls, especially books about mean rich girls. I didn't feel bad about anything that happened to the main character Phoebe (oh no! her mom lost her job and now they only have as much money as middle class people! Oh the horror!!), and her friends were horrible! The "hero" of the story ended up being the meanest girl in school, but since she did something nice for Phoebe, it made her the hero at the end. Apparently it doesn't matter how mean, selfish, or materialistic someone is as long as they treat their rich, beautiful, popular friends well. The only part of this book that I actually liked was when Phoebe's Dad yelled at her and told her what a spoiled brat she was. I wanted to reach into the book and shake his hand. Apparently this is the first in a trilogy about Phoebe and her two sisters, but it took all I have just to finish this book, so I won't be reading the others. ( )

Phoebe Avery is about to graduate from middle school, and she couldn’t be more thrilled. But it’s mostly the graduation party that she’s excited about, because it’s a chance to be with her best friends having fun in a fabulous dress. But something goes wrong. It turns out that Phoebe’s mother has lost her job. Now the family is in a financial crisis. Phoebe can no longer afford to pay her share for the party.

She’s too embarrassed to tell her friends her economic situation. Even though she’s been friends with these girls since elementary school, she doesn’t quite trust them completely, especially her friend Kirstyn, who seems even more self-centered than usual. Phoebe isn’t very close to her two older sisters, so she can’t really confide in them. Her parents are too stressed out. To top that off, she’s not quite sure if she like likes Luke. Phoebe has no one to turn to. She needs to stick it out by herself.

When I first read the summary for Lucky, I thought that it was going to be another book like Gossip Girl, but I was wrong. The summary says that there is a “family scandal,” but I thought that a rich family losing money was hardly scandalous, though that is just my opinion. I was actually glad that Lucky wasn’t one of those shallow teenager books, and it was a refreshing read.

Lucky was a thoroughly enjoyable book for me even though it would be better for the middle school crowd. Phoebe’s character is funny, and while she isn’t extremely deep, she isn’t shallow either. It was easy to sympathize with her. The ending was a little too cheesy for my taste, but I appreciated that Phoebe was making amends with her family, friends, and potential boyfriend. I was glad that Phoebe could find her inner strength. My overall favorite part was the references to a gorgeous green Vera Wang dress that is displayed on the cover because of its symbolism.

I definitely recommend this novel to all young readers. I also look forward to more books from Rachel Vail, especially more from the Avery sisters.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ( )