Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Higher Power of Lucky

The Higher Power of Lucky
By Susan Patron
4/5 ****

So much of what we discussed in class about The Higher Power of Lucky had to do with the literary devices used by Patron.  I think she so skillfully was descriptive when introducing characters and setting; this was one of the things I liked the most. She really painted a picture for me of what was happening, because of the way she described the setting and really everything that happened.  I felt like I could really understand Lucky and get inside of her head, just because of the way Patron wrote.  I really enjoyed the diversity of the characters and their personalities.  I feel like almost everyone could relate to something about at least one of the characters. For me, a book becomes so much more powerful when I can relate on a personal level to someone in the book, and I think Patron did a great job of choosing characters.

One thing that usually is introduced in elementary school, is theme and symbolism.  There are lots of great examples of symbolism in the book, and so many different ways you could go with the theme.  Having so many examples and choices of both symbols and themes makes this book a great book to use to introduce these new ways of analyzing literature; it is likely each student will be able to think of or understand at least one or two of the symbols and themes, so they will have some confidence with identifying them right from the start.

Personally, I think this is a great learning tool, and the controversy over the word "scrotum" is so minor that I almost forgot to mention it in this blog post.  As a teacher, it would be very easy to defend the valuable lessons in this book. The one thing that I struggled with when reading this book, is just how depressing and sad it is.  I feel so bad for Lucky, and she goes through so much for a ten year old.

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