Lucky for Good: The Final Story in Lucky's Hard Pan Trilogy by Susan Patron

I read The Higher Power of Lucky, the first of the Hard Pan Trilogy, because some folks were ticked off about a small detail involving the word scrotum in the first chapter and because it won the Newberry Medal. And after laughing so hard I almost fell off my chair when I read said chapter, I was hooked. I could imagine Susan Patron's crooked smile as she decided to include THAT word, having complete faith in readers to hold onto what is important about her stories and ignore what for some could feel threatening. All I can tell you is that from that first chapter on, I have looked at dogs in a whole new way (you gotta read it to understand!) and I celebrate whatever this author has to offer in our future.

I believe Lucky for Good just might be my fave of the series, barely nudging out The Higher Power of Lucky. In each of the books, Patron consistently writes from a source of truth. Lucky's life started out pretty rocky, with alot of uncertainties, and without ruining the ending for you readers, she is finding her way to smaller rocks and more grounding. The character development worked very well for me: I have a mind movie of the teeny town, Hard Pan, and some of the characters including Brigette and Lincoln and Miles that film production companies would love to get their hands on. I have never heard of a desert sounding so inviting. What started as a moment of hardened trials became a source of connection and living throughout each of the books.

What I most loved about Lucky for Good is how the character has grown: she has softened a little emotionally, finding her own way to use her learnings from hard times to know more about herself and how she works; she has held onto her sassiness, using it to both stand up to ugliness when called upon and enrich her friendships that are so important to her; and she sounds like some part of me, working so carefully (sometimes intentionally and sometimes by surprise) to create a way of living that brings joy to the losses in our lives. I love Lucky, I see her in my students, and I feel like I live a little within the books.

I can't wait to see what Susan Patron creates next!