Overall, I just can't understand why this book won the Newbery, unless it was a sad year for children's lit. I just started listening to another Newbery book, A Wrinkle in Time," and in the introduction, the author comments that adults don't understand this book, but children "get it." I feel like this book is the exact opposite; I'm sure some adults felt like it was deep and meaningful and rich, but I suspect many children will find it a bit dull and depressing. Also, I found the book to be a bit of a paradox in that it seemed like an adult message with a childishly simple (and often hole-filled) plot.

It's certainly not a book I would recommend to my brother or any other kid that was the recommended age. It just wasn't that great and it certainly wasn't memorable. I've read Newbery's that moved me to tears, like Bridge to Terabithia and Walk Two Moons. I've read ones that I thought about for weeks afterwards, like The Giver. I've read ones that just charmed the socks off of me, like Caddie Woodlawn. This book did none of these for me. It will likely be most remembered for the wild publicity and protests that the inclusion of the word "scrotum" caused.

Read my full review at http://everydayreading.blogspot.com/2007/06/higher-power-of-lucky-by-susan-patron.html