2007 Newbery Medal
The town of Hard Pan population 43 is located in the Mojave Desert. Ten year old Lucky is one of those 43 residents and has one of the few jobs in town. She cleans up after the 12 step meetings that take place in the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. "All the anonymous people left lots of litter, and each group could not bear to see the butts or the cans or the candy wrappers of the group that met before it. . . . The recovering alcoholics hated to see or smell beer cans left by the recovering smokers and gamblers, the recovering smokers could not stand cigarette butts left by the recovering drinkers, and the recovering overeaters hated to see candy wrappers left by the recovering drinkers, smokers and gamblers. Which means Lucky has a job."
She also has a spot behind the building where she eavesdrops on all the rock bottom stories the anonymous people tell. And listens carefully for any clues about finding your higher power, since she would like to find her own.
Lucky's mom died a few years ago and she has a guardian, Bridgette, who is from France. The main thread in the story follows Lucky's recovery from that loss. It has a happy ending.
I liked the book.There are a bunch of quirky characters who live in Hard Pan who are fun to read about. The book was funny and did a good job viewing the world through Lucky's eyes and in her language. But, it wasn't JUST funny, it also dealt with good themes of loss, love, recovery and community.
Although I think younger readers would enjoy the character of Lucky, and there's nothing horribly scary in the book, various things make me recommend it to middle school and up. A younger child reading WITH a parent might be OK. The whole context of the anonymous meetings, the opening rock bottom story has a snake biting a dog on the scrotum, stuff like that, makes me think of an older reader.
Love, Louise
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