Newbery Medal "The Higher Power of Lucky" by Susan Patron

In the book “The Higher Power of Lucky” by Susan Patron, a young girl, Lucky, decides to run away from home in the middle of a sand storm.  She fears that her Guardian, Brigitte, has decided to leave her to move back to her home in France. The main reason that I enjoyed this book is that Lucky reminded me of myself as a child.  Lucky is very curious about the world around her and enjoys eavesdropping on the conversations that the adults around her are having.  Lucky is also very easily angered.  When I was a child, I possessed many of these same characteristics. 

I also enjoyed the humor that the author used in expressing Lucky’s thought life.  Lucky would often come to crazy conclusions based on the evidence she had seen in life, as is the case with most children.  When Lucky saw her Guardian’s passport sitting on top of her suitcase, she decided that her Guardian was planning on moving back to France.  Lucky failed to realize that Brigitte was needing her passport in order to officially adopt Lucky. 

I read this book right after I read “Tuck Everlasting.”  It struck me that Lucky and Winifred were very similar characters.  Both girls wanted to have an impact on the world.  Lucky wanted to be a well-known scientist and Winifred wanted to make a difference in the world.  Both girls also got caught up in situations in which they had run away from home.  I admire both girls for being brave and independent.  Those are two qualities that I don’t possess that I’ve always longed for. 

In reading this book, I realized that children’s literature can help me to remember how children think.  I had forgotten about the illogical conclusions I would come to as a child.  This text also helped me to learn that children’s literature can be full of high level similes and metaphors that children can understand.  “The Higher Power of Lucky” included many examples of common metaphors, but Lucky would usually explain the metaphor in way that kids would understand.

I would highly recommend the book “The Higher Power of Lucky,” for any classroom or school library!