The Higher Power of Lucky

After I read this book, #1 in a trilogy, I wrote to the author (something I rarely do), enthusing about how much I loved almost-orphan Lucky and her inspiring, tragic, hopeful, and heartwarming story. Ten-year-old Lucky’s greatest fear is that she’ll end up in an orphanage following the death of her mother, leaving Lucky to be raised by her absentee father’s ex-wife, Brigitte.

I was drawn into the lives of each of the splendidly flawed, quirky, and very real people in Lucky’s life, but it’s Lucky herself who I fell in love with because she’s so believably innocent and imperfect,… show more.

As someone who grew up with a young single mother in a quirky desert town, I never imagined I would read a book that captured the richness, humor, heartbreak, and beauty of those years in a novel. Patron has managed it. 

I can smell the air just before a monsoon. I can see the sky bursting with stars. I know Short Sammy, Dot, Bridgette, and all the survivors at the 12-step meeting. I know Lucky. 

Zooming in, I’m impressed with Patron’s ability to gently poke fun at Lucky, exploring her grandiosity, misconceptions, and pseudo-scientific understanding of how things work.

Zooming… show more.