The Higher Power of Lucky

by Susan Patron

Much, both wonderful and silly, has been said about this Newbery Medal Winner. I would like to tell you what it is really about, as it is indeed a lovely, uplifting and unforgettable read.

Life is grand, and it is hard in turn, and often it’s just about a “lighting strike of luck”-- of the good kind or the bad. 10 year-old Lucky has had a lot of the bad kind, as have the other residents of Hard Pan, California who are valiantly putting their broken lives back together amidst the dusty desert landscape of this novel.

But charming Lucky has something that even the most privileged children need to be happy, and what the current parenting research so harshly shows they lack--resilience. Lucky, an inquisitive young natural scientist, bug collector and a fan of Darwin is struggling with the death of her mother, her love for and longing to be adopted by her guardian, Brigitte, and her sometimes fun, sometimes draining role as a friend to the other children of her town.

But, Lucky at 10 knows already what to do if she starts to “lose heart”, “her favorite sad but exquisite phrase.” She can get out a beautiful, never-used toothbrush from her ever-present survival backpack and make herself feel better. A person, who knows how to help herself bounce back like that, with small joys, will find a way to happiness and those around her will glow.

Patron’s gorgeous, textured novel, is deceptively simple in its language and entirely appropriate for youth 10 and above who may or may not have been thus fortunate. Lucky’s strength will stay with you. I promise.

Reviewed by Vivian

Tennyson

By Lesley M.M. Blume

11-year-old Tennyson’s parents have raised her and her sister in isolation in the woods, away from everyone. It is the Depression, and times are hard, especially in the South, but the girls love their free life of adventures and games in the forest and the river. Tennyson is a writer, born one. This is crushing for her fragile mother, Sadie, who has attempted all her life to find the “right words,” to be a published author. One day Tennyson innocently “fixes” one of her mother’s stories and shortly thereafter, Sadie abandons the family.

Everything changes. Their father must go search for Sadie. He sees no choice but to take the girls to their delusional aunt Henrietta at Aigredoux--his family’s ancestral home, and symbol of a heritage he detests. This ruin of house has a wicked and tragic history which it wants to reveal to Tennyson in her dreams. Tennyson dreams her family’s story in words so beautiful that when she writes them down and secretly submits them to “The Sophisticate Magazine,” a publication desperately admired by her departed mother, they publish the stories on the spot. The mysterious author is hailed as the “writer of the next great American novel”. Tennyson really just hopes that her mother, wherever she is, will read her words and return to her.

This is a haunting gothic ghost story that travels between the age of slavery and the Civil War and the Depression Era South. Tennyson observes “how hard history tried to repeat itself” even with her own life. Despite the fact that her father abandoned his betrayal and slavery- tainted heritage, Aigredoux has managed to bring his daughters, the only remaining descendants, back into its walls. Henrietta still seeking the family glories of the past, sees the girls as a commodity to marry off into a wealthy family who would help her restore Aigredoux.

Tennyson comes to see Aigredoux “like a strange poison-like candy that stayed in your blood”. Will she break free and become the first member of her family not crushed by its past? The writing is gorgeous and the story is haunting. One page and you will be in Tennyson’s world.

Reviewed by Vivian

Waiting for Normal

By Leslie Connor

Sixth-grader, Addie’s life is complicated. Her “Mommers”, is increasingly flaky and given to get-rich schemes, long absences, and immature outbursts. Addie has dyslexia so learning is an act of will and persistence. Her father died when she was small, but her stepfather, Dwight, now divorced from her Mom, cares deeply for her and the couple’s other two natural children. The court awards him custody of the younger girls, but not of Addie because she is not her “real” Dad. As Mommers falters, he continues to support them but the only home he can purchase for them is a small trailer home parked on a city corner beneath a train overpass and across from a mini-mart. Hardly “normal”, huh?
Even here Addie attempts to “normalize” her life around meals, learning pieces on her flute, home-making, visiting her beloved “neighbors” at the convenience store. She clings to any routine she can construct and holds tight to her ability to love, even to support a sick friend. She finds great pleasure in small things like the swing Dwight hangs from the overpass, a short visit from her sisters, a warm synthetic apple pocket pie, or a slide down the mountain of dirty snow left behind by the snowplow.
I found it impossible to leave Addie until I finished. Beautifully and convincingly written in Addie’s voice, this book will force you to think about “normal,” --about what you, and all of us, really desire and find joy in. What is a normal relationship with a parent, a friend, a lover, a home, with learning, with illness, with food, with music?
Indeed, now Addie won’t leave me. She makes me think about our lives so lucky and full that we miss so much. I want to celebrate Addie’s resilient spirit and patient courage as she waits for “normal” to come to her life. When it does, you’ll want to dance.

Reviewed by Vivian