The Higher Power of Lucky

by Susan Patron

Summary: Lucky lives in a tiny California town, and spends a lot of time eavesdropping on 12-step meetings, where she discovers the idea of finding a "higher power." Her mother is dead, and her father, who doesn't much like the idea of being a father, calls his first wife from France to come care for Lucky. Understandably, Lucky is afraid that all of the adults in her life are going to abandon her. She runs away into the desert in a dust storm hoping to gain attention, but instead learns some things about her family and herself.

My thoughts: I'll be honest. I think the Newbery Committee missed the boat on this one. I found the plot uninteresting, the writing dry, and Lucky kind of got on my nerves.