The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
A heart-warming novel about an 8 year old girl's life in rural California two years after her mother's sudden death. Lucky, the main character, is an insecure little girl, paranoid that her native-French guardian will leave her to go back to France. Lucky carries a "survival backpack" with her whereever she goes in the event that she should need to fend for herself. My heart goes out to imaginative Lucky when she overhears 12-step members talking about finding their "higher power," and Lucky decides that if she can only find hers, she can find a way to keep her guardian from leaving her. This is a powerfully subtle story of love, belonging, and a view of what "normal" life is for others. Patron reaches in to Lucky's mind and paints an insightful and what, I can imagine, is a very accurate portrate of what she and many children living with a guardian worry about on a daily basis. By using this book in the classroom, I could give children who don't normally get a chance to relate their lives to the literature they read an opportunity to do so. For those who can't relate on a personal level to this novel, it is a lesson on understanding. I would definitely use this with my students.
I am reading this book with my child study student and she loves the book. It is sort of sad to see this girl trying to find her "higher power" but my child study student has found many ways to compare and contrast her life to Lucky. The book moves quickly and she always wants to read more chapters when our child study is over!
ReplyDelete