The Higher Power of Lucky: Summary and book reviews of The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, plus links to an excerpt from The Higher Power of Lucky and a biography of Susan Patron.

The John Newbery Medal, 2007 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.

Media Reviews

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.   Booklist - Francisca Goldsmith 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.   Children's Literature Although the studied small-town eccentricities of Hard Pan are too heavily underlined ...Lucky's mix of meanness and big-heartedness makes her a multi-dimensional character whose predicament is compelling.   Kirkus Reviews Readers will gladly give themselves over to Patron, a master of light but sure characterization and closely observed detail. A small gem.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Myra C Sartana age 12
HP
I love the book. I just couldn't put it down. I read it 7 times already. The story was great and it deserved the Newbury Medal.

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