Not really sure what I can say about this book. Fourteen-year-old Phoebe was a bratty, spoilt and shallow protagonist and she annoyed me from the start. Unfortunately, she showed no emotional growth throughout the book, and at the end she was still a brat. I hated how she whined and whinged when her mother lost her job and suddenly they didn't have the endless money supply she was used to having. There was more than one occasion when I wanted to slap some sense into Phoebe as she still had more money than most middle-class families have. Obnoxious brat! ( )

I can see how this book will appeal to the average teenage girl but I regarded this book skeptically. It's not easy sympathizing with the troubles of a girl from an upper-class family (although some of her troubles are universal, such as boys, misunderstandings with her girlfriends, etc.). Kirstyn also came off throughout the book as something of a "mean girl" so I didn't buy Phoebe's realization of what a supportive friend Kirstyn had been. Pushing my skepticism over the top was the Disney-style happy ending. ( )

Teenage traumas when the "perfect" family has a meltdown after the mother is fired from her job. Really well done with some swearing but .... ( )

young-adult
[edit]

Lucky is the first book in a trilogy about the Avery sisters. Phoebe Avery is the youngest one of the sisters and all her life, she has been considered “lucky”. Pretty, popular, and rich, Phoebe and her best friend Kirstyn and her three other close friends are the social center of their grade. Then, Phoebe`s family has a financial catastrophe and Phoebe realizes she needs to figure out who she is.
One thing I have to commend Rachel Vail on is that she knows how to write teenage characters. All of them were so dynamic and real. The relationships did not have a ring of falsity, and everything that Phoebe said, I could imagine a teenager saying. Another thing I liked were the hints of problems with Phoebe’s other sisters that are to be explored in the other two books in the trilogy.
I found Phoebe’s coming of age story to be quite sincere. I personally enjoyed reading about her discovery into what it means to be a good friend, a good daughter, and a good person. I also thought the book really reminded us to be more trusting of the people that we should trust. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next two books. ( )

This was a quick YA read that I enjoyed once I got past the smart-mouthed narration of the 14 year-old protagonist. Phoebe Avery has it all -- she and her friends seem to be the queen bees of their middle school, and they are planning an unforgettable party to celebrate the end of their school year and their continuation to high school. Phoebe's family is faced with an unexpected financial crisis that sends her world into a tailspin as she navigates how to keep up appearances while coping with financial hardship for the first time ever. This is the first book of a trilogy that tells essentially the same story but from the experience and point of view of each of the Avery sisters.

Curriculum/essential questions: how do you overcome adversity? When is it okay to ask for help? To offer help?

Vail, R. (2008). Lucky. New York: HarperTeen.