The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

When Lucky hits her ''rock bottom,'' she decides to run away with her beloved dog during a dust storm, a risky move that leads to an uplifting denouement. Through her search for an HP, Lucky makes a few discoveries-such as the true identity of ''the crematory man,'' who handed her an urn bearing her mother's ashes at the funeral, and the hidden talents of her knot-tying friend Lincoln. If she could find her own Higher Power, Lucky feels ''pretty sure she'd be able to figure out the difference between the things she could change and the things she couldn't.'' One thing she hopes will not change is her life with Brigitte, whom she fears will return to her much-missed homeland and leave Lucky with a foster family. As the heroine goes about her work at the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center, she eavesdrops on the meetings of various 12-step programs held there, listening to ''the anonymous people'' talk about hitting rock bottom and then gaining control of their lives through a Higher Power. The author's third-person narrative gently adheres to a child's perspective and reveals the warm relationship between Lucky and Brigitte. After her mother died, Lucky's estranged father asked his former first wife, Brigitte, to travel from France and act as Lucky's guardian. Matt lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Patron's (Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe) often poignant novel introduces 10-year-old Lucky, who lives in the California desert town of Hard Pan. His picture books include The New Girl.and Me and Two of a Kind, both written by Jacqui Robbins. Matt Phelan's black-and-white illustrations first appeared in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Married to a rare book restorer from the Champagne region of France, Susan is working on the final book in the 'Lucky' trilogy. The Higher Power of Luck will be translated into twelve foreign languages and has been optioned for a motion picture. All earned starred reviews, and the latter was named an ALA Notable book. Patron's previous books for children include the Billy Que trilogy of picture books Dark Cloud Strong Breeze and a chapter book, Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Patron has served on many book award committees, including the Caldecott and Laura Ingalls Wilder Committees of the American Library Association.

As the library's Juvenile Materials Collection Development Manager, she trained and mentored children's librarians in 72 branches. Susan Patron specialized in Children's Services for 35 years at the Los Angeles Public Library before retiring in 2007, the same year her novel The Higher Power of Lucky was awarded the John Newbery Medal.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron