The Higher Power of Lucky is a book written by Susan Patron about a little girl named Lucky trying to find her higher power. Lucky always eavesdrops on the twelve step Alcoholic, Gamblers, Smoker, and Overeaters Anonymous meetings where they talk about hitting Rock Bottom, bouncing back up, finally getting control of their lives and finding their Higher Power. Which means when they get to the worst point in their lives and gaining control over it and finding the thing that will help them get over their addiction. Lucky isn’t the luckiest girl considering her name is Lucky, her mother died when she was 8 and was given an urn filled with her ashes. Her father had left her early on so his first ex-wife, Brigitte, who flew from France to Hard Pan, California which was only a small, poor, town with 42 people. The story talks about how she hits Rock Bottom, getting back up, and finding her Higher Power. It is an amazing story about determination, bravery, and abandonment.
Lucky was abandoned multiple times throughout her life. When she was born her father abandoned her because he hated kids, then her mother died when she was electrocuted by a power line that had fallen over in the storm. Lucky was basically an orphan now, her dad sent his ex-wife Brigitte to take care of her for a while. She wasn’t related to Lucky in any way, they weren’t blood related either so she doesn’t have to be responsible for Lucky if she doesn’t want to, plus she wasn’t even her official guardian. So technically she could abandon Lucky at any moment and go back to France which Lucky was terrified of. There are also a few abandonment related problems with her community. Since it's in the middle of the desert, where the water is scarce, and the weather is harsh, people want to abandon this place and leave. The residents are talking about abandoning themselves in the stories they tell in the 12 step anonymous meetings. But in the end they see the importance in getting back up, getting better, and healing, so now they go to the 12 step anonymous meetings in an attempt to get better. Although they hit rock bottom they bounced up again and found their Higher Power.
Another lesson the story teaches us is that not everything is what it seems. In the book when Lucky saw Brigitte’s passport she thought she was returning to France. And when she saw the course she was talking about opening French cafes, she thought she was returning to France to start a cafe. But in reality the passport was for adopting Lucky, and the cafe course was for opening a French cafe in Hard Pan. Another thing is Lucky’s name as stated before, although her name is Lucky she isn’t really lucky. This is an example of the author using irony, but in the end she is lucky like her name as she finds her Higher Power. Example #3 is the name of the town, Hard Pan. There is no soil or water making the ground hard, that's number 1, this is also an example of irony because there is a word called “hardpan” which is what they refer to in science when the ground is hard. There was a Gold Rush in California back in the 1850s, but since there is no water it's hard to pan gold. But although it's very hard to do anything Lucky still found her Higher Power. As you can see, the author was very smart when naming the town and the other characters and put irony to the use very well too.
A big part of the story is Lucky’s maturity and her mental and physical bravery. First of all, Lucky was put through hard times often as a young girl. Her life was never easy as her father left and only had her mom but she died when she was 8. But eventually she was able to accept the loss of her mother and let her ashes into the desert. This is also a sign of her maturity over the years, she used to want to keep her mother’s ashes forever but she learned to let go and move on. Lucky was also always on the lookout for her when she would hit Rock Bottom and then find her Higher Power. A sign of her being physically brave was when Brigitte had found a snake in the dryer and scared it out by jumping on it, this was also a sign of her being mature and kind, not wanting to kill it then remove it instead. Lucky also fought the sand storm when she ran away and went over and back multiple times when she had to save her friend Miles. These are all examples for Lucky’s bravery and maturity throughout the story.
The Higher Power of Lucky is an amazing book detailing all the adventures Lucky went through as she hit rock bottom, bounced back up, and found her Higher Power. It's an amazing story about abandonment, maturity, bravery, and teaches us that not everything is what it seems. Lucky was abandoned by her parents, and thought that Brigitte was going to abandon her too. Another example of abandonment is the community as most of them have problems. Lucky had found Briggite’s passport, and saw her taking a course on opening French Cafes which drove her into thinking she was abandoning her although in reality she was adopting her and opening a cafe in Hard Pan. Throughout the story Lucky isn’t exactly lucky, but in the end, luckily, she finds her higher power. Lucky is very brave for facing the death of her mother and mature for learning to let go, leave the past, and finally move on. The Higher Power of Lucky is truly a great book and can be enjoyed by anyone.
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