The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

This is the Newbery Award winner for 2007, and it's a book that no one had heard of before it won the award. It's actually written more for upper elementary students, but it is in our library and well worth reading. I saw it as a quiet story about a smart, observant 10-year-old girl's need for security in her life. Lucky lives with Brigitte, her guardian, but Brigitte is just the first wife of Lucky's irresponsible father, and Lucky fears that at any moment Brigitte might just move back to France and leave her in an orphanage. Lucky is funny—she eavesdrops on support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and hears them talk about things she doesn't quite understand. One of those things is finding your higher power. She decides she needs to find hers—and she runs away rather than face her fear of losing Brigitte. In a predictible but fitting ending, Lucky gets what she is looking for. It's a nice book. Not one that I will read again or recommend to everyone, but smart, sensitive readers will want to curl up with Lucky (and her dog HMS Beagle).