The Higher Power of Lucky

Ever wondered what it would be to grow up in a town with a population of 43 people? In THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron, the reader gets a guided tour of life in a small, desert town by our young narrator...Lucky. Lucky isn't lucky. Not in the traditional sense at least. She hasn't hit rock bottom, and in fact, she thinks that might be her biggest problem. She knows from eavesdropping on all the various twelve step programs that you have to hit rock bottom before you find the 'higher power' you need to turn your life around. Lucky has never known her father. He divorced Lucky's mother before she was born. And Lucky's mother? You guessed it, has died tragically after a storm while taking a barefoot stroll when she stepped on a downed power line. Lucky's guardian is her father's ex-wife. His first ex-wife. Brigette was leaving in France--she is a French woman after all--when she got the call that her ex-husband needed her to come to California to raise his daughter from his second marriage. What was supposed to be temporary--just until she could be placed into a traditional foster care--became more long term. Thus the sign 'population 43' still rang true despite her mother's death. Readers are introduced to Lucky, Brigette, and a cast of townspeople...some quite colorful such as Miles who makes cookie runs each morning going from house to house to house--or business to business--begging for cookies. Like most books dealing with orphaned/abandoned children, Lucky spends a great deal of time wondering what will happen. Will Brigette adopt her? Will they stay in Hard Pan, California, despite the snakes and scorpions? Or will Brigette return to France and send Lucky into foster care?

The Higher Power of Lucky is the Newbery Award winner this year (2007). And while you almost hate to criticize an award-winner, I have to say that there are better books, more charming books even, on this topic that were written this past year. Foster care was a HUGE theme in 2006. The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes and Home and Other Big Fat Lies by Jill Wolfson were excellent. Outstanding even. Just truly beautiful books. Different from each other. But wonderful in their own unique way. And I've read the two Newbery Honor books PENNY FROM HEAVEN by Jennifer L. Holm and HATTIE BIG SKY by Kirby Larson. Both of those books were outstanding. Great books. Books that I hope will become classics. But The Higher Power of Lucky doesn't seem like a classic or a future classic to me. It isn't outstanding. It's good. It's not a bad book by any means. But it's not a book that grabbed me. Of the four other books I've mentioned--The Road to Paris, Home and Other Big Fat Lies, Penny From Heaven, Hattie Big Sky--I've not only loved but I've been recommending to everyone I know. They're just so good that I can't stop talking about them. They're books I would want to read and reread and own. The Higher Power of Lucky was a good read once...but I'm not sure I'll ever have the need to read it again. So in conclusion, it's a fine book. There were enjoyable aspects of the book. But it is--to me at least--a forgettable book.

A Way With Words

Wolfson, Jill. 2006. Home and Other Big, Fat Lies

Whitney is a narrator with a way for words. A foster kid all her life--from two months of age--she is as prepared as she'll ever be for her new foster home in the country.

Let's say you're a kid who's small for her age and some other kids who are way overgrown decide it would be the most hilarious thing in the world to shove the new kid in the house into the clothes dryer and slam it closed. I can tell you how to get out of that dryer by kicking and screaming bloody murder so that the foster mom with the bald spot on the top of her head rescues you in front of the entire snickering ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha house full of kids. I can also give you the complete rundown on the most common varieties of foster parents you're likely to run into. Like the look-on-the-bright side ones who go on and on until your head is ready to explode like a potato in a microwave about how lucky you are that you weren't born a foster kid in 1846. Or the one... (3).

Full of advice on how to survive the worst, she is unprepared to give advice on how to expect the best. Hope is a dangerous thing when you're a foster kid and Whitney doesn't want to take any chances on getting hurt.

When she arrives in her new home, in her new town, Forest Glen, she's more than a little restless. And when she throws up in front of her new family right off (minutes after getting out of the car) she's not off to the greatest of starts...

In case you ever need to know, here's what you do when you arrive at a new foster home and the foster mother is rude and you don't know the rules and you're laughing because you don't know what you're feeling and a psycho dog is waiting to attack and there's a kid there who hopes that you drop off the face of the planet: You don't knock. You open the door. And even though you know you don't belong here any more than you've ever belonged anywhere, you walk in like you own the place. (24)

Starting sixth grade in October isn't the easiest way for a new kid to transition, but Whitney does her best and doles out more advice:

Number one: Aim for immediate high noticeability. It doesn't matter what kind. Just get noticed. Be a soldier parachuting into the middle of a battlefield, landing in the muck with a big, fat smack of your shoes. Ta-da! I'm here! That's my style. Don't wait for them to sneak up and ambush you. They're going to call you a weirdo anyway, so be THE weirdo. Be it proudly...Like I said, you can get noticed or--strategy number two--you can let yourself be one of those faceless, gutless, voiceless kids and cross your fingers that you're off to your next foster home before anyone even notices you exist. By the way, I don't recommend the second choice. You will bore yourself to death. Besides, you might think that you're safe. But watch out. They'll find you. And then, you're dead meat. (50-51)

But Whitney's luck may have just changed. Suddenly, in this new school she finds out she's not alone. There are other kids in her class--five or six at least--who are all foster kids. It seems the whole school is full of foster kids. Kids who understand her. Who know the rules of how to survive. Who welcome her. Life has never seemed so good...but can it last???

I mentioned that Whitney has a way with words. I wanted to pull together some examples:

From her conversation with Honeysuckle and Josh--two of the foster kids in her sixth grade class--
Honeysuckle explained, "The social worker said that if Josh sets his mind to it, he can get into Stanford. Stanford's a big college. It's hard to get into." I drummed my fingers on the box [the box Josh is hiding in and has been hiding in since the beginning of the school year] "Must be one of those optometrist social workers." "Optimistic," Honeysuckle tried to correct. "No, optometrist. That social worker needs to get her vision checked." I turned back to Josh. "No offense, kid. This thing about getting into Stanford? It looks like you're having trouble getting through sixth grade." (90)

From her conversation with Striker, her foster brother
I told Striker that of all the members of the Nature and Ecology Club, I was the only one who hadn't been incriminated by him. "Intimidated," he said. "Incriminated means there's evidence that you're guilty of a crime." "I mean incriminated. You made everyone feel guilty just for being alive. (156)

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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

DiCamillo, Kate. 2006. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
This week you’ve noticed that sometimes I begin reading books with slight traces of prejudice...I can judge a book on its cover...(or by what it says on its cover)...or based on what I’ve heard about it from other sources. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. If a book is being praised by everyone as the best book the world has ever seen...it makes me slightly skeptical. It’s like the book-world goes through phrases where certain books and authors are above criticism. They’re considered supreme. To disagree with their pronouncement that the book is perfect...simply shows your ignorance. There were two books this year that everyone seemed to be talking about: one was Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson, the second was the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Well, for those that might have missed my ongoing scorn of Octavian Nothing, let’s just say that something quite different happened when I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a book that is about one china rabbit’s adventures in a sometimes harsh world. He is commissioned by the grandmother for her granddaughter, Abilene.
Once, in a house on Egypt street, there lived a rabbit who was made entirely of china. He had china arms and china legs, china paws and a china head, a china torso and a chino nose. His arms and legs were jointed and joined by wire so that his china elbows and china knees could be bent, giving him much freedom of movement. His ears were made of real rabbit fur, and beneath the fur, there were strong, bendable wires, which allowed the ears to be arranged into poses that reflected the rabbit’s mood--jaunty, tired, full of ennui. His tail, too, was made of real rabbit fur and was fluffy and soft and well shaped. The rabbit’s name was Edward Tulane, and he was tall. He measured almost three feet from the tip of his ears to the tip of his feet; his eyes were painted a penetrating and intelligent blue. In all, Edward Tulane felt himself to be an exceptional specimen. (5-6)
He has everything a fine toy could want: fine clothes, a fine pocket watch, a girl who loves him, a nice home, a place of prestige among the other toys, and the love of his owner. Abilene loves him. Dotes on him. Treasures him. Yet Edward who has never known any other kind of life is unappreciative. It’s not that he dislikes his owner. The fact is that he’s disinterested in humans altogether. Preferring one over another has never occured to him. He has no love. He has no hate--unless its for neighboring dogs who try to pee on him or carry him in their mouths--or for thoughless maids who vacuum his ears and have the audicity to place him on the shelf with other dolls. He is not an emotional rabbit.
But that is just his first stop on a long journey. His starting place. When Edward accompanies the family on an ocean voyage, his luck begins to change. In the following days, months, years, even decades...his whole world is turned upside down over and over and over again. What he learns are valuable life lessons. What it means to love. What it means to lose someone you love. What it means to grieve. What it means to hope and despair. What it means to be content. What it means to be compassionate. He learns to be content with whatever his lot is in life. To be happy with the small things...no longer is pride in possessions or appearance of the utmost importance. Gone is his dignity. Gone are the days when he could gloat and brag. Whether he is filling the need of an elderly couple who treat him like a young child...or comforting a dying girl in her last days on earth...or companionship for a hobo and his dog...or joy for a young boy as he dances for crowds. If there is a human emotion, he’s felt it. He’s learned through experience what it is to be alive. Here is his journey: the good, the bad, the ugly. Full of sadness, disappointment, heartbreak, despair, but also full of hope and love and joy.
I must admit that for me this book is all about the ending. Yes, Edward Tulane suffers. He suffers a lot. The moment things begin to look up, the moment that he’s happy and all is right with the world, that’s when his world is turned upside down again. Yet, Edward Tulane NEEDED a happy ending. The world wants a happy ending. In life there are times of suffering that no one can really explain away. No one can take the pain away, but to live life without hope of a better tomorrow seems worse than not living at all. Hope is needed. Love is needed. Edward Tulane illustrates this perfectly.
All that being said is Edward Tulane a book really for children? Or is it a children’s book for adults? I can only say this. I loved it as an adult, but I think its darkness would have frightened me as a child. Would it frighten every child? No! But for some--like me--there were places and feelings that I was not ready to go. The fact that this poor toy rabbit suffers one torture after another...that the book depicts death, loss, hate, and despair...it wouldn’t have worked for me then. It would have been disturbing to me. (Heidi was disturbing to me as was Wizard of Oz). But for the right child, this is a great book. Not every children’s book can be loved and appreciated and treasured by adults....this one can.
Does this mean that this book is the most perfectly perfect book in the whole world? No. I still feel no one book is ‘perfect’ for everybody. Everyone is different. Everyone has different needs. Everyone has different tastes. Different life experiences. Different backgrounds. But I can see why some people are putting this one on the top of their ‘best of 2006’ lists.

Fanboy vs. King Dork

Larklight

The title of the book I’m reviewing today is in full: Larklight: Or the Revenge of the White Spiders!: Or To Saturn’s Rings and Back!: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Furthest Reaches of Space.
Quite a mouthful, isn’t it?

Reeve, Philip. 2006. Larklight.
I remember in elementary school having an end of the year awards ceremony where each child received a certificate reflecting their ‘character.’ If Larklight were to receive an award, here are some possibilities: ‘Best 8-Legged Villains’ ‘Quirkiest Flying House’ ‘Longest Chapter Titles in A Work of Fiction’ etc. What is Larklight about you may be wondering?
It’s a historical science fiction/fantasy title. Set in the Victorian era, it answers the question...what could have happened if scientists like Isaac Newton had discovered space flight. The answer, the British would have sought to colonize and rule outer space much like she was known for colonizing earth. (Hence, the saying that the sun never sets on the British empire.) Arthur “Art” Mumby and his sister Myrtle live with their father in a rather unique house ‘Larklight’ that orbits the moon, I believe. With robotic servants and ancient gravity devices, the house is unique in many ways. When our story begins the children are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a visitor. But with the arrival of this visitor, the danger and adventure begins. With aliens of every shape and size, some ‘good’ and some ‘bad,’ the two must find a way to save the British empire before its too late. Art loves living in space, but Myrtle wishes for a simpler life in British--particularly London--society. For those who can suspend their disbelief of absurd and silly adventures defying everything we know about the world we live in, Larklight is sure to entertain. If you’re looking for a fantasy world where pirates and aliens interact...this might be your dream come true.

http://www.philipreeve.co.uk/