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A review by haia_929
Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern
4.0
This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.
I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins on Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Things aren't going the way Benny planned this year. First his dad got hurt in the summer and had a brain aneurysm, his best friend moved away, and then he got the teacher he wanted but he just isn't as great as Benny heard, so when the school starts to reward people for being nice and Benny doesn't get any rewards, he starts to worry that people just don't notice or remember him at all. On top of that he's having trouble dealing with his autistic older brother. Benny doesn't know what to do.
I really rather enjoyed Just My Luck despite having a little bit of trouble getting the ball rolling with it. I thought the story was sweet and moving, with a really relatable lead character and a charming cast of characters filling out his world. I did find the book a little too easy, but I'm reading this at age 24 so of course it would be too easy for me, I guess it just made the slowness of the start a little harder to deal with. Overall I think it's a great MG debut for McGovern though.
Benny is a sweet kid, he's patient and kind with his brothers, he loves his family and feels responsible for his father's aneurysm even though he isn't to blame. He's a lovable kid and you really feel for him as you watch him be mistreated by his friends and ignored by the people around him at school. I thought he was charming and sweet, with a really wonderful and interesting hobby - making Lego movies! What Benny really brings to this book is the heart, through him we learn to love everyone else because Benny sees such good things in the people around him and he makes the people he meets better people.
The characters of this book are really the heart, the plot, largely following Benny's attempts to get recognition for being nice, fall to the wayside as we see Benny love and care for his family throughout the book. I found it really moving and I loved the way that McGovern highlights how we need to try harder to understand and care for people who have autism without shoving it down your throat, you internalized it without needing it to be spelled out
I adored this book and think it was a perfect transition from YA to MG for McGovern. I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins on Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Things aren't going the way Benny planned this year. First his dad got hurt in the summer and had a brain aneurysm, his best friend moved away, and then he got the teacher he wanted but he just isn't as great as Benny heard, so when the school starts to reward people for being nice and Benny doesn't get any rewards, he starts to worry that people just don't notice or remember him at all. On top of that he's having trouble dealing with his autistic older brother. Benny doesn't know what to do.
I really rather enjoyed Just My Luck despite having a little bit of trouble getting the ball rolling with it. I thought the story was sweet and moving, with a really relatable lead character and a charming cast of characters filling out his world. I did find the book a little too easy, but I'm reading this at age 24 so of course it would be too easy for me, I guess it just made the slowness of the start a little harder to deal with. Overall I think it's a great MG debut for McGovern though.
Benny is a sweet kid, he's patient and kind with his brothers, he loves his family and feels responsible for his father's aneurysm even though he isn't to blame. He's a lovable kid and you really feel for him as you watch him be mistreated by his friends and ignored by the people around him at school. I thought he was charming and sweet, with a really wonderful and interesting hobby - making Lego movies! What Benny really brings to this book is the heart, through him we learn to love everyone else because Benny sees such good things in the people around him and he makes the people he meets better people.
The characters of this book are really the heart, the plot, largely following Benny's attempts to get recognition for being nice, fall to the wayside as we see Benny love and care for his family throughout the book. I found it really moving and I loved the way that McGovern highlights how we need to try harder to understand and care for people who have autism without shoving it down your throat, you internalized it without needing it to be spelled out
I adored this book and think it was a perfect transition from YA to MG for McGovern. I highly recommend it.