Susan Patron

What do you do when your mother dies and the first wife of your father (who didn't want you) moves from France to the California desert to be your guardian but you secretly fear she wants to go back and leave you, too? And what do you, the reader, do when people object to the book because the word "scrotum" (referring to a dog's) is on the first page? You sit back and enjoy every minute of Lucky's life and you cry at the end.

From the book:
"Her regular clothes were faded from many washings show more and from the sun, but the redness of this dress was the same thing for your eyes as a sonic boom is for your ears, or a jalapeno pepper is for your mouth." show less

I absolutely loved The Higher Power of Lucky and found it remarkably engaging. Patron did an incredible job of seeing the world through the eyes of a ten-year-old, being true to Lucky's view of the world as our narrator, but still allows readers to have a sense of Lucky's world of which she is not yet aware.

The Higher Power of Lucky has gotten a lot of controversy and press regarding its use of the word scrotum, and I read it for my children's literature class as one of the banned books. I'm show more sure it comes as no surprise to those who know me that I think banning this book is ludicrous. The scrotum is a basic part of human, and in this case, animal, anatomy. I strongly believe in teaching children proper terms for anatomy and ensuring a free flow of information. It is incredibly ironic that Lucky's confusion over the word caused an uproar. By the book's end, she asks Brigitte what the word actually means. To me, this detail provides a beautiful metaphor for how children view the world. Lucky overheard the word in a setting her caretaker couldn't imagine; children are exposed to words in a myriad of ways. Both literature and trusted adults are valuable ways to disseminate accurate information to children to counteract the inaccuracies or incompleteness of information they are often exposed to elsewhere.

There is a sequel, Lucky Breaks, that picks up the now eleven-years-old Lucky, and I'm looking forward to reading it. show less

It's easy to see why The Higher Power of Lucky won the Newbery Medal, but not so easy to see why such a fuss was made when it came out over the author's use of the word scrotum. Seriously? Oh well. Lucky's story does touch on some heavy subjects (addiction and 12-step meetings, death, jail, poverty) that parents of ambitious younger readers might want to be aware of, but Patron tackles them with a tender, discerning eye, and the book's beautiful illustrations further soften their impact. I show more suspect this is one that resonates differently with children and adults too. Personally, I cried my eyes out (happy/bittersweet tears) over one scene towards the end, but a child might have a different reaction. Lucky, Lincoln, and Miles are wonderful characters, and Patron paints the adults of Hard Pan, California with a colorful brush too. Good stuff here all around! show less

This is one of those books I picked up because of it's Newbery medal, but was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The characters were true sounding, full of unusual quirks. The story, set in a tiny desert town was well crafted and the townsfolk and town itself was unusual and interesting. I genuinely liked Lucky, and even when she was not being her best, still looked forward to a happy ending.