Just Lucky I Guess

The Higher Power of Lucky

by Susan Patron

Summary

Ten-year-old Lucky Trimble continually hears about the Higher Power found by attendees at the 12-step anonymous meetings at the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center in her hometown of Hard Pan, Calif. Lucky wants to find her Higher Power too, because she’s worried that her Guardian, Brigitte, wants to move back home to France. When she finds Brigitte’s passport sitting out one day, Lucky decides that she has “hit rock bottom” and the only thing to do is run away. She will surely find her Higher Power after by doing so. Which wouldn’t be so hard, except for dealing with all the things she has to take along, her dog, her younger neighbor, Miles, and the giant sandstorm that kicks up.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Yes. Lucky is a headstrong and clever girl who I enjoyed staying up for. The hardships that have affected her from such a young age (she lost her mother at age 8 and now lives in a very poor community with a legal guardian) have given her a different view of the world and its inhabitants, and it was a delight to follow along with her train of thought and see things through her eyes. She has a kind heart and sees the good qualities in everyone, from her best friend who has an obsession with tying knots, to Short Sammy, who lives in the old town water tank and cooks everything with bacon grease. I think kids would easily relate to her on many levels.

Following its publication, The Higher Power of Lucky became the subject of much controversy due to author Susan Patron’s use of the word “scrotum” on the first page. While I could easily loose myself in a discussion about reactions to such issues, I will leave it at this: having read the book, I found the term completely inoffensive, and thought Lucky’s reaction to hearing it was entirely normal and representative of how a 10-year-old would react. Lucky even plucks up the courage to ask what the word means at the end of the book, and the resulting answer is entirely appropriate and honest. I think providing readers with a heroine whom they can identify with is one of the best ways to engage young minds, and I think Patron has done this wonderfully.

Reviews

-Winner of the 2006 John Newbery Medal

“Lucky, age 10, lives in tiny Hard Pan, California (population 43), with her dog and the young French woman who is her guardian. With a personality that may remind some readers of Ramona Quimby, Lucky, who is totally contemporary, teeters between bravado--gathering insect specimens, scaring away snakes from the laundry--and fear that her guardian will leave her to return to France. Looking for solace, Lucky eavesdrops on the various 12-step meetings held in Hard Pan (of which there are plenty), hoping to suss out a "higher power" that will see her through her difficulties. Her best friend, Lincoln, is a taciturn boy with a fixation for tying knots; another acquaintance, Miles, seems a tiresome pest until Lucky discovers a secret about his mother. Patron's plotting is as tight as her characters are endearing. Lucky is a true heroine, especially because she's not perfect: she does some cowardly things, but she takes pains to put them to rights.”

-Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist

In the library

I think this would be a great book to read aloud or independently. Lucky talks about finding a Higher Power to help her when things get bad. Ask children to write a journal entry about what helps them when life is hard or they are having trouble with something.

For a more light-hearted topic, take the French phrases that Brigitte uses in the book and translate them, then teach children how to say them in French. Children will be calling each other “ma puce” (my flea) and heading home to give their mothers bisious (kisses) before bed.

SLIS 5420 / Module 4

Week of Sept. 20-26

How Nobody Came to the Graveyard

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Summary

Neil Gaiman’s story begins with murder. Three members of a family have been slain, and the murderer plans to finish off the fourth member, a baby, who’s room is at the top of the house’s long staircase. But the front door was left open, and the baby is an adventurous one. He climbs out of his crib and out the door, unaware of the danger he is escaping. His journey takes him to a graveyard, where the murderer, the man Jack, follows but looses sight of the baby as the ghosts of the graveyard take him in and promise his mother, a ghost herself at this point, that they will protect him. They name him Nobody, Bod for short, because his anonymity is a factor in his safety.

The Graveyard Book follows Bod as he grows up in the graveyard, raised by ghost parents, and protected and mentored by a guardian who walks the line between living and dead. He has adventures and dangerous encounters in the graveyard and he learns lessons about the living and the dead, and beyond the gates of his home, a murderer is searching for him.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Yes. A thousand times, yes. I could not put this book down once I started reading, and I cannot get it out of my head now that I’ve finished. With Nobody Owens, Gaiman has achieved that amazing balancing act of creating a protagonist who is admirable yet fallible; intelligent, but willing to learn more. Bod’s lessons about life and death, taught to him by his guardian, Silas, and the residents of the graveyard, never felt preachy, only wise and thought-provoking. Bod’s graveyard home is wonderfully imaginative yet not so outlandish that I found it unbelievable. I imagined reading the book at a younger age and could feel the chills I would get from some of the scarier moments of the story.

Having finished the book, I keep finding my gaze wandering to the graveyard that lies just beyond my kitchen window, and I wonder how it would feel to walk through it with Gaiman’s story in my head.

Reviews

-Winner of the 2008 John Newbery Medal

“While “The Graveyard Book” will entertain people of all ages, it’s especially a tale for children. Gaiman’s remarkable cemetery is a place that children more than anyone would want to visit. They would certainly want to look for Silas in his chapel, maybe climb down (if they were as brave as Bod) to the oldest burial chamber, or (if they were as reckless) search for the ghoul gate. Children will appreciate Bod’s occasional mistakes and bad manners, and relish his good acts and eventual great ones. The story’s language and humor are sophisticated, but Gaiman respects his readers and trusts them to understand.”

-Monica Edinger, The New York Times Book Review

In the library

This book would be great to read aloud or individually. The ghosts in the graveyard all come from various centuries and time periods throughout history, something which is immediately evident by their speech and mannerisms. Teachers could discuss the different social settings from these times, and touch on a major event from each century the ghosts represent.

SLIS 5420 / Module 4

Week of Sept. 20-26

A Simpler Time

Ox-Cart Man

by Donald Hall

Pictures by Barbara Cooney

Summary

Readers meet Donald Hall’s Ox-Cart Man as he loads up his wagon for his annual trip to Portsmouth Market, where he will sell the foods and handiwork his family has been producing during the last year on their New England farm. Potatoes, maple sugar, knitted mittens, goose feathers and linen are all loaded for the 10-day journey. Upon his arrival, Ox-Cart Man sells everything, even the cart he traveled to market in. After procuring some necessary supplies with his earnings, Ox-Cart Man returns for the winter and his family settles in for the winter and begins the annual process again. Planting, knitting, sewing and harvesting.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

If you have a reader who likes history, pioneer times, or even simply animals on a farm, Ox-Cart Man is a good book to stay up for. It is not dynamic or flashy, but I loved its steady rhythm and simple story line. With our increasingly busy and technology-filled lives growing louder every day, I think it is important to remind children of how people lived in years past. Barbara Cooney’s wood-painted illustrations are beautifully detailed, and they made me feel nostalgic for a simpler time, the way I imagine some people feel when looking at a Norman Rockwell painting. Ox-Cart Man is a breath of fresh air that I think many children can enjoy.

Reviews

"Like a pastoral symphony translated into picture book format, the stunning combination of text and illustrations recreates the mood of 19-century rural New England."

-The Horn Book

1980 Caldecott Medal Book

In the library

Read Ox-Cart Man for a group story time and set out a table with some of the items mentioned in the book for children to see afterward - feathers, wool, maple sugar, candles, knitting. Consider having the reader dress in period clothing.

SLIS 5420 / Module 3

Week of Sept. 13-19

Something That Floats

Flotsam

by David Wiesner

Summary

What would you do if you found a camera washed up on the beach? After an unsuccessful search for the owner, the young boy in David Wiesner’s Flotsam develops the film inside and is taken on a journey through the ocean that the underwater camera made before it washed up in a tangle of seaweed. There is no doubt a strange and exciting world beneath the water’s surface, from tiny seashell communities to giant starfish that tower above whales. And this isn’t the first time the camera has washed up on shore ...

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Flotsam: Something that floats. If it floats in the ocean, it may wash up on the beach, where someone may find it and be astonished, and share the discovery with someone else. (from the inside cover of Flotsam.)

Flotsam is a discovery that is definitely worth staying up for! Told entirely through illustrations, the story is a fantastic work of imagination, and I quickly found myself caught up in the underwater world Wiesner created. I loved the look of shock on the young boy’s face when he developed the photos and discovered that things are not necessarily as they seem below the water’s surface. A mechanical fish, an octopus family enjoying a book, and eventually, a photo that leads to the camera’s origins. I was just as surprised as the young boy when I discovered the journey the camera had made, and I have been telling friends about this book from the moment I put it down.

Reviews

Though wordless, this intriguing book is a storytelling marvel. With stunning, meticulously painted watercolors, award-winning Wiesner tells the fanciful tale of a young boy who discovers an old-fashioned camera washed up on the beach. The developed film reveals fantastical underwater shots, including octopi reading in armchairs and elaborate cities built of seashells. Children will savor the magic of this surreal underwater world and the book's mind-bending conclusion.

-Child Magazine

In the library

For older children, starting a chain letter between libraries or schools. As a group, write a short letter about the book and take a polaroid photo of them at the library. Then mail the letter to another library or school, asking them to pass it along with a letter and photo of their own once they’ve read the book.

For younger children, make ocean artwork. Use paper, markers, glitter and glue to make starfish, shells, fish, and of course, flotsam! Provide an “ocean” for their completed work to be displayed on and hang it up in the library.

SLIS 5420 / Module 3

Week of Sept. 13-19

A Walk in the Moonlight

Harold and the Purple Crayon

by Crockett Johnson

Summary

“One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight ... And he set off on his walk, taking his big purple crayon with him.”

So begins Crockett Johnson’s 1955 classic Harold and the Purple Crayon. Guided by nothing more than the moon and his imagination, Harold sets off on a wonderful journey that he creates with his purple crayon. He sails the ocean, flies in a balloon, climbs a hill, and enjoys a picnic of pie. Using simple purple illustrations, Johnson’s story follows Harold on a moonlit walk that is both simple and wildly imaginative.

Worth Staying Up Past Bedtime?

Harold’s big smile, round, inquisitive eyes, and simple purple crayon drawings are undoubtedly worth staying up for. I was completely enamored with his journey and appreciated the simple illustrations that accompanied it. That simplicity made me all the more enthusiastic about the book because it really felt like I was seeing Harold’s journey, rather than a fancy representation of it.

Reviews

"...For generations, children have cherished this ingenious and original little picture story." -- Horn Book

Do we look at art to learn things, or to feel things? I'd vote for feeling, and that's why the art book I most recommend is Harold and the Purple Crayon.... -- The New York Times Book Review, Deborah Solomon

At the library

Give children paper and a purple crayon and have them draw what they would encounter during a walk in the moonlight.

Have children each draw one thing they would find on a walk and then put all the drawings together to create a story for the group.

SLIS 5420 / Module 2

Sept. 6-12