Friday, October 23, 2015

Lucky Strike by Bobbie Pyron - OPTIONAL

Pyron, Bobbie Lucky Strike, 263 pgs. Scholastic (Arthur A Levine) $16.99 2015. Language: G (0 swears); Violence: PG; Mature Content: G. 

Nate has been unlucky all his life, especially the last few years since his parents died; he can never win at a coin toss, hit a baseball, anything.  Then, at his birthday party at a miniature golf course, out of a clear blue sky, Nate is struck by lightning.  Miraculously he survives with only a bad scar on his hand and wrist, but his luck has changed. Now, he’s the luckiest kid in town; winning every contest he enters, hitting every ball he swings at, drawing a high card every time.  Everything should be great, but it isn’t.  Nate’s lucky streak has caused a riff between him and his best friend Gen, and the people in town are tired of Nate and his grandpa getting “all the luck”.  

I thought this book was going to be funny.  It sure started out that way, but, it’s sad.  Despite Nate’s problems (poor, living in a trailer park, both parents killed etc.) his best friends are picked on, and seem to think that’s OK because they are “weirdos and losers.” (a phase the author keeps repeating)  I liked the environmental plug for loggerhead turtles, and the “Reversal of Fortune” theme but overall, I was disappointed.

EL OPTIONAL Lisa Librarian

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