"The Higher Power Of Lucky"

Kevin Coolidge


God Grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
Courage to change the things we can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.


That little piece of wisdom is known as the Serenity Prayer, and it’s read a lot at twelve-step meetings. It reminds me of my uncle who is chock full of wisdom-such as don’t draw to an inside straight, don’t gamble with a man whose moniker is the same as any city, and don’t count your money at the table. Wait, maybe that was Kenny Rogers- anyway, he says, “the power of luck is that you don’t know if it’s bad or good, until after the fact.”

I always consider myself lucky when I discover a great book. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron and illustrated by Matt Phelan is one of those books. Winner of the Newbery Award for 2007, which is given every year for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children, this is a book that doesn’t talk down to it’s audience, which is 9 to 11 year olds.

Controversy has arisen over the book due to the word “scrotum” being used on the first page. A number of school librarians and teachers have called for banning or censoring the book. Lucky for Tioga County, the Green Free Library is not among those banning the book. I feel it’s something the parent should decide, since not every book is for every person. Knowledge is power, but the ability to share that knowledge is freedom.

Some accuse the author of endorsing shock value, but the incident is based on a true story and she uses it to explain anatomy to developing readers. I’ve had a lot of Anatomy classes and every part of your body has a scientific name (usually Latin), and it comes in handy sooner or later. Scrotum: A pouch of skin, which contains the testes, epididymides, and lower portions of the spermatic cords. My nephews are 9 and 11 and they already have lots of words for this piece of anatomy. It’s about time they read the proper word in context and not some slang word that you can’t say in front of your Grandma.

The novel features Lucky, a 10-year-old girl who lives in a small town named Hard Pan (population 43) in the California desert. After her mother died two years ago, her father called upon his ex-wife, Brigette, to come to the United States from France to take care of Lucky. Lucky fears that Brigette is tired of being her guardian and of their life in Hard Pan. Her experiences lead her to believe that Brigette will abadon her and return to France. This anxiety prompts Lucky to seek help from her "Higher Power," a notion she gets from eavesdropping at her town's 12-step meetings.

I enjoyed reading about Lucky's world: the hard, dusty life in a remote California town, and the people who populate it. The book reads real. The reality of life is that kids in this age range have all kinds of scary ideas and powerful curiosities, letting kids read about Lucky going through some of the same problems can give opportunities to talk and think about what’s going on in their lives. It’s a story of a girl with a precarious family situation, trying to find her place in the world. She’s a scrappy, intelligent girl interested in Charles Darwin and the search for truth, but the problem with the power truth is that you don’t always know if it’s good or bad until after the fact….