Lucky T by Kate Brian tells the story of Carrie Fitzgerald, a high school sophomore who travels halfway across the world for a t-shirt. Carrie’s shirt is lucky and when her mom accidentally gives it away to a charity in India, Carrie is determined to find it.She travels to India with her ex best friend and her mom’s friend to do volunteer work; but really, Carrie is focused on finding her “Lucky T.” When they arrive in India, Carrie is hit with culture shock. She doesn’t fit in with the other volunteers and she certainly isn’t cut out to build houses.Luckily, Carrie runs into Dee, a volunteer at a children’s shelter and he offers her a volunteer position there. Carrie figures as long as she is in India looking for her shirt, she might as well take Dee up on his offer. Carrie moves into the shelter and begins to love her job. She finds herself falling for Dee and the children at the shelter and realizes that some things in life are just more important than luck and a t-shirt.Another great book by Kate Brian. As you know, I only have good things to say about Kate Brian and her writing and this book did not disappoint.Carrie was definitely relateable, and it was nice to read about India, a place I’ve never been and don’t know much about. Seeing India through Carrie’s eyes was especially nice because I felt like I would have seen the foreign country the same way.The romantic connection between Carrie and Dee was adorable and I loved reading each and every scene between the two of them. Dee seemed almost too good to be true and was a lovable character.I really loved the moral of this story; sometimes, life isn’t about luck. It’s about doing what you want and what’s best for you and for others. It’s about helping the less fortunate and about appreciating what you have.
The book that I read in the partnership with Mallory Reinken is called Lucky T by Kate Brian. This book is about a girl who's lucky t-shirt was given away to India. But a lot more happens in the book. She meets a lot of new people, has a romance, and starts to wonder if she really needs the shirt after all. The story takes place in Calcutta, India for the majority of the book. This book was not what I expected in any way, it was much better. When Carrie is in India she has to make many decisions. The way she reacts to some of them are completely unpredictable. Still, the author use foreshadowing in many occasions. But in many instances, the author tricks you into thinking something is going to happen but it's really not. The setting in the book impacts how I think/ picture the book. Given it takes place in India, I picture crowded streets and people everywhere. So, I can get a much better "movie" in my head. Lastly, the story is told in 3rd person which in my opinion was the right choice. Having the story told in 3rd person allows you to experience the story from a broader perspective. Also, it allows you to know what everyone is thinking, which is very important in this book. I definitely recommend this book to all ages because the content is very PG rated. But I feel like teens would be the most interested in the plot because the things she does are very relatable. My overall opinion of the book is that it was great. My favorite part about the unexpected and great ending. This made the book more interesting. My favorite part about the unexpected and great ending. Trust me this is not just a stupid book about a selfish girl who goes to India to take back her "lucky shirt".
What do You think about Lucky T (2007)?
Real rating is a 4 and a half. I really enjoyed this book, although I wasn't fond of Dee. He was too much of a prude, and just needed to go with the flow instead of exploding on Carrie all the time for simple mistakes. I knew she wasn't going to come home from India with her lucky T, and somehow I knew it'd end up with a needy child, but I felt that's the way this story is suppose to end. And I had a gut feeling she wasn't attached to this T because it was "lucky". I felt like I was going to tear when Carrie almost gave up on CCS and Dee was being a dick as usual. I'd definitely read a sequel, even if it meant dealing with Dee again.
—Emily
Carrie Fitzgerald is the type of girl every teenage girl wishes they could be: tall, skinny, perfectly fallen hair around her shoulders, popular, the only sophomore on the girl’s varsity basketball team, and who happens to be dating the hottest guy in school, Jason, all with her best friend by her side, Piper. Carrie has all the luck in the world and she can thank her lucky red t-shirt with the green Morocco star her father gave her from one of his trips. Carrie’s perfect world comes crashing down, however, when her luck takes a turn for the worse and she is told that her shirt has been donated and on its way to India. Hopeless, Carrie makes the trip around the world to Calcutta, India with her mom’s friend Celia. Once in India Carrie gets distracted by a young volunteer, Dee and keeps postponing her search of her lucky t in hopes of getting close to Dee. Will Carrie be able to balance focusing on Dee and looking for her lucky t-shirt, or will she has to choose one or the other?
—Erin Kelly
This is a typical teenage book about Carrie, and her lost 'lucky' tee-shirt which ends up being donated to a charity in India - Carrie lives in America! After the t-shirt is lost, Carrie's life falls apart and so Carrie decides to pursue the t-shirt and travels to India with some family friends where she helps to build housing for locals, assists in an orphanage, falls in love and of course tracks down the famous t-shirt before she decides whether to reclaim it or not.I liked the simplicity of the book - how many people accidentally donating something to charity are able to fly off at a drop of a hat to track it back down again? but some parts of the book jarred with me, such as the girls' shock at the poverty in India or the dislike of the food to be found there. Overall it was a nice story about considering others real poverty over your temporary deprivation and now I've done with the book, my 12-yr old daughter can read it!
—Lisa
