I fear that some of my committee members will want to drop this title, simply because of the mature themes in this middle grade novel. Hailey's new private school friends smoke, ride in cars with boys, skip classes, cheat, and dabble in just about every other rebellious thing a middle school student can do. However, these are issues that middle schoolers encounter: and if they don't, exploring them within the safe confines of a book is not a bad thing, in my opinion. I fully support exposing children to mature themes, with the hopes that exploring these issues through a well-written, socially conscious book may provide them with guidance. Themes: the lottery, social media, poverty, popularity, private schools, peer pressure, underage smoking. Hailee is a typical girl with an annoying baby sister and spends all of her time with her best friend, Amanda. Although, her whole life changes when her family wins the lottery. She makes a list of things she wants with all of that money, but instead her parents send her to a rich, private school. At the school, she becomes good friends with a popular girl named Nikki. Being friends with Nikki, however, gets both of them in trouble and pulls Hailee and Amanda's friendship apart. Hailee learns important lessons about friendship throughout the book. In my opinion, this book is a good read because it has many plot twists. Although some parts in the book were predictable, it still made for an interesting story. I would recommend A Whole Lot of Lucky for girls over the age of 12. I would recommend reading this book if you are looking for a fun, relaxing book about friendship. This book is pretty long, but the story is not difficult to understand and comprehend.
What do You think about A Whole Lot Of Lucky (2012)?
I thought this book was very well written and I think everybody should read this.
—mansoor
Me: I LOVE this book!Son: You wrote it.Me: I LOVE this book!
—Amelia
