The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

The Higher Power of Lucky (2006)
Written by: Susan Patron
Illustrated by: Matt Phelan
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, New York
Lexile: 1010L
Accelerated Reader: 5.0

Witty, Charming, Honest, Resourceful, Daring

Suggested Delivery: independent 

Electronic Resources to Support Reading:

      1.  Mojave Desert

           This site explains where the Mojave Desert is located, its climate, the wildlife that lives there, and a glossary.  Students may explore this website before and during reading in order to gain a better understanding of where Lucky lives and the conditions she and her neighbors face living in Hard Pan, California.

      2.  Susan Patron

           This site is the author, Susan Patron's website.  It contains brief summaries of her books, more information about her personal life, as well as the controversy of censorship that her book and others have been exposed to.

Key Vocabulary:

• commodity - goods or services that satisfies wants or necessities
• crevice - a narrow opening, a crack; 
• 12-step program - guidelines or principles offered in order to solve a problem, such as alcohol or drug abuse
• guardian - a person appointed to take care of a person who is not legally old enough
• ward - a person who has a guardian to take care of them, because they are not old enough or able to do so
• corrugated - a material shaped into grooves and ridges, such as a roof
• languid - slow, relaxed, physically tired or fatigued

Before Reading:  Analyze the title of the book, "The Higher Power of Lucky" with students.  Ask if students have heard of the phrase "higher power" before or have an idea of what it means.  Review with students the meaning of "12-Step Program" and relate the meaning of these programs to finding a "higher power."  Students may write in their writing journals about their current thoughts or ideas of higher power, if anyone they know has a higher power, or if they personally have a higher power that helps them in their daily life.  Students will review this entry after the story is finished, and make changes or add to their entry about what a higher power entails.

During Reading:  In the story, Lincoln decides to fix a street sign that reads "Slow Children At Play" to "Slow: Children At Play".  Discuss with students how the insertion of the colon changes the meaning of the sign completely.  Inform students that they will go on a scavenger hunt in order to find more examples of short phrases or fragments that distort the intention of the meaning.  These can be examples found in other street signs, newspaper headings, or advertisements.  Giving them ample time to find real world examples, students will report back to their peers about what examples they found, and how they would change the wording or insert punctuation in order to project the intended meaning.  Then, present a challenge: students will produce their own examples of intended mistaken wording, and working in pairs, have to decode each other's examples in order to revise the phrase to regain the correct meaning.

After Reading:  After reviewing Susan Patron's website under the tab "Censorship", and discussing with students what it means when a book or other medium is censored, introduce the topic of debate.  After reviewing with students proper behavior and ethics of a debate, divide students into two groups.  One group will be pro-censorship and the other group will be anti-censorship.  The question at hand will be "When writing a book, should an author be careful not to include any words that may make people feel uncomfortable?  Why or why not?"  Teacher will prompt students along if necessary to continue debate and discussion, with possible questions such as "Have you ever gone out of your comfort zone and felt a little uneasy, but then benefited from having done so?"  "Have you read other pieces of writing that has made you or others around you feel uncomfortable?  Was it necessary to the quality of the writing?"

Writing Activity:  Introduce to students the concept of SPAWN writing.  Tell students in this SPAWN writing activity, they will be completing part S of the "Special Powers" writing piece, that is, students may change one aspect of the text, explain why they changed it, and how this change effected the story.  The whole class will brainstorm aloud ideas of what aspects of the story could be changed that would effect the rest of the story's events in order to make sure all students have at least one possibility they would prefer to write about in this activity.  Examples could include, "What if Lucky's mother had never stepped on the wire after the storm?"  "What if Brigitte did not agree to be Lucky's guardian?"  "What if there was not a dust storm that hit Hard Pan on the day Lucky decided to run away?"