Lucky Breaks

January 19, 2009
Riding the same wave of warmth and quirkiness that distinguished Patron's Newbery-winning The Higher Power of Lucky
, this sequel continues the musings of Lucky Tipton as she looks for adventure and a best girl friend. Settled in a routine with her “adopted” French mother, Brigitte, almost-11-year-old Lucky has become bored with her tiny desert town of Hard Pan, Calif., but when a group of geologists which includes a girl Lucky's age visits Brigitte's café, things start to look up. Lucky instantly bonds with Paloma, her new “Pal,” not worrying about the effects on her buddies: Lincoln, the knot-tying wiz, and Miles, the five-year-old genius. A mild drama involving an abandoned well plus a mysterious package delivered to the town hippie play a role in helping Lucky make room in her heart for all her true friends and begin to understand her absentee father. Lucky's occasional bratty behavior can be maddening, but her recognition of her mistakes and her efforts to rectify them are endearing. Although Patron breaks no new ground, she skillfully balances sentimentality and humor, allowing her characters to shine once more in their own idiosyncratic ways. B&w illus. not seen by PW
. Ages 8–12.

March 1, 2009
Gr 4-6-Lucky is back. In this sequel to "The Higher Power of Lucky" (S & S, 2006), Milo, Lincoln, Brigitte, Short Sammy, and HMS Beagle are all present and accounted for, hewing to their idiosyncratic ways and weaving in the psychological safety that makes Lucky's world a charmer of a place. The girl settles in with Brigitte, her foster mother, and enjoys her home and friends. She discovers the fun of a best friend who shares her gender as she instantly bonds with a girl accompanying the "ologists" who've come to Brigitte's Hard Pan Café. However, Lucky is not a child who is ever going to proceed calmly and sedately through life. From the minute she meets Paloma, whose parents are overly concerned for her safety in the desert, it is almost inevitable that Lucky will think up an escapade that will bring them into real danger. Unusual metaphors, vivid language, felicitous writing, and the sense of hearing from a realistic, albeit unique child are the strengths that continue in this sequel that is as tightly plotted as the first book."Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
Grades 3-6 Two years may have passed since Patrons The Higher Power of Lucky (2006 )won the Newbery, but Lucky herself has only aged one year since those adventures: now shes just days away from her eleventh birthday and a planned party that will bring together all 43 residents of the desert community of Hard Pan. Unlike many sequels, not one note feelscontrived, andthe storyscurious plot, while sometimes meandering, is organic. Primary to Luckys concerns this time around are the ongoing Americanization of her French-born adoptive mother, the push and pull of (possibly romantic?) feelings for her buddy Lincoln, and the introduction of Paloma, who just might be Luckys first female best friend. Without being heavy-handed, Patron nails the insecurities and overzealousness of a budding friendship, and the central adventure of Lucky getting trapped inside a well brings these feelings to a fine point. Those whofamously tried to ban Higher Power will be scandalized to find that the word scrotum appears in Lucky Breaks not once, but twice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)