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Summary
Summary
Susan Patron writes honest and true, and this, her final Lucky, feel truest of all. I loved it -Kathi Appelt, author of the Newbery Honor Book The Underneath
For eleven-year-old Lucky, the universe is full of questions. Is that mysterious woman at the Cafe Miles s mom? Does Lucky s father not talk to her because he hates her? Will the health department ruin everything? Is she really going to go to hell? The answers are, in no particular order: nearly, no, yes, and a big fat who knows?
But answers are constantly evolving, and sometimes the biggest questions have no answers at all. The best Lucky can do is never give up on maybe understanding things a little better before she turns twelve. It will take a punch in the face (not her face), a near-Cafe disaster, a trip to the principal s office, and both male and female sofas but in the end, she ll see that there are loopholes in life and, thankfully, in county health codes
The Hard Pan trilogy that began with the Newbery Medal winning The Higher Power of Lucky concludes with Lucky and all of Hard Pan a little wiser and a lot closer to all our hearts."
Author Notes
Susan Patron was born in Los Angeles, California in 1948. She worked as a children's services librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library for 35 years and is an acclaimed author of children's books, having won the Newbery Award for The Higher Power of Lucky in 2007.
Patron has served on numerous book award committees, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and reviews children's literature.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-As the third book in Patron's series opens, the tiny desert town of Hard Pan (population 43) is bustling. Lucky's adoptive mother, Brigitte, who has opened a small cafe, gets an unwelcome visit from the county health inspector, who threatens to shut things down. Miles's mother, Justine, is sprung from jail and is full of newfound religious platitudes. This causes her supremely scientific son no small amount of grief. Lucky gets into a fight with a middle schooler (who just happens to be the health inspector's nephew), works on tracking down her father's only living relative, and gets her first kiss. There are also tidbits of poetry, art, genealogy, and health ordinances. Yes, Patron packs a lot into this book, but nothing feels rushed or shortchanged. That is a tribute to the strength of her writing and the depth of her characterizations. As in the previous books, the plot rambles slightly (this is a good thing) and the kids are super thoughtful and articulate. Miles's mother's religion, while not unexpected, feels like it comes down heavily in the final third of the book, but it allows Lucky to contemplate her Higher Power, and although she questions Justine's choices, she is never judgmental. This is a terrific read and a lovely completion to the trilogy.-Geri Diorio, The Ridgefield Library, CT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Patron satisfyingly concludes the trilogy that began with the 2006 Newbery-winning The Higher Power of Lucky. Lucky Trimble, now 11, has carved a comfortable life for herself in tiny Hard Pan, Calif., helping her adoptive mother, Brigitte, run her cafe and spending time with her favorite quirky neighbors and friends, who will be familiar to readers of the previous books. But in the summer before junior high, Lucky is rattled by a threat to Brigitte's business, news about her long-absent father, and her sweet, confusing feelings about her best pal Lincoln. She also worries about her friend Miles, who is forging a relationship with his mother, born-again and recently returned from prison. Lucky navigates these stresses and others with realistically kidlike aplomb, consulting her Higher Power when things seem particularly tough. Patron's memorable setting and cast, as well as some crisp, thought-provoking dialogue, will keep readers hooked as she resolves the plot lines she's set in motion. But the biggest treat is ever-hopeful Lucky, who ends her adventures on a high note. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Excerpts
Excerpts
1. enemies The enemies invaded the trailers. Many crept in alone; others arrived in organized platoons. They concealed themselves and built secret tiny nests and lairs. Some of them bit, stung, and pinched; others clogged, soiled, smudged, and polluted. Lucky's mom, Brigitte, faced these foes like a general in World War III. She mopped, swept, vacuumed, scoured, scrubbed, washed, polished, and sterilized. She was okay with the work. It was just part of living in the little desert town of Hard Pan, Pop. 43, which Brigitte had adopted as her home when she adopted Lucky as her daughter. Lucky herself had a live-and-let-live attitude toward Brigitte's enemies, those mice, ants, flying ants, tarantula hawk wasps, scorpions, beetles, crickets, spiders, flies, and moths, plus sand, dust, dirt, grit, and dog hair. The creatures were all just doing their jobs, trying to eat and not get eaten, make a home, have children, live their urgent tiny lives. Lucky tried to help Brigitte see things from their point of view, but it was no use. Brigitte did not care one bit about the point of view of a bug. So Lucky was pretty conscientious about keeping the screen door closed and not tracking in dirt. She wiped down the tables on weekends, when Brigitte's Hard Pan CafÉ was open for lunch, and she bused and washed dirty dishes. But the problem with bugs is that they don't care if a certain area "belongs" to you, like a shelf in your bedroom or a corner under the sink; all they know is, it seems like a good place to settle down. So Lucky had to be vigilant and keep up her guard, hunting and capturing the larger insects and releasing them outside. She did her best. But sometimes all that cleaning and enemy-fighting wore Lucky out. It made her wish she were back at her old job at the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center, which she'd given up because of having too much else to do. For that job, she just kept the patio clean and raked; she didn't have to worry about dust or insects. And then a certain realization bonked Lucky over the head: Nothing stays clean. Sooner or later the thing will have to be cleaned again. The floor, the stove, tables, pots, forks, napkins, feet, paws--the never-endingness of cleaning made a quick little what-if thought spring into her mind. The what-if was like an online pop-up, which you're forced to look at even if you don't want to. It wasn't a wish that she hoped would come true, but still, there it was, blinking at her from the corner of the screen in her mind. It was this: What if, for some reason, Brigitte's Hard Pan CafÉ just-- poof --disappeared? Well, life would be way different. There would be so much less work! Brigitte could get a regular job. And they would have weekends just for themselves, to do fun things instead of working. But then Lucky reminded herself of the good parts. Like that Brigitte wasn't homesick for France, because here in California she had a strict boss--but it was herself. And every day when Lucky got back from school, she was greeted twice: first with a dog-kiss from HMS Beagle, who was waiting at the bus drop-off, and then with a hug and a mom-kiss from Brigitte. Plus, Lucky was proud that Brigitte's cooking was famous for miles around, and all on their own, they were making the CafÉ a success. Tourists who found them told their friends, and local people from Sierra City and other towns started coming every single weekend. It was a kind of miracle, and Brigitte said it could never have happened without Lucky. So Lucky felt ashamed about what-iffing the CafÉ's disappearance, even for a second. She put on her yellow rubber gloves and got to work. But then a new enemy appeared, and started a different kind of battle. © 2011 Susan Patron Excerpted from Lucky for Good by Susan Patron All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.