Lucky for Good Audiobook

" Really good final to the Lucky trilogy. good for adults as well as kids. "

" This is the final book in the Hard Pan Trilogy and Lucky's friends in town are fun to hang out with. I like the quirky characters and their unusual solutions to life's problems. Lucky learns more about her father in this book, comes to understand her relationship with Lincoln, and grows up. I liked it. "

" This book is about a girl named Lucky who lives with her adopted mother. They run a cafe together but one day a man shows up and tells her she has to shut the place down. They won't let her cafe and trailer be attached. The town gets upset. How will they fix this so they don't have to shut down? I recommend this book if you like to not know whats going to happen next. "

" I checked this book out and then put off reading it, somehow thinking it would be boring or at least less interesting than my other books. I'm not sure why I was of that opinion. The story is quite good, and it was fun to revisit Hard Pan and its unique cast of characters. Lucky is maybe a bit too precocious for my taste, but I really loved many of the other characters, so it all added up to a quick and enjoyable read for me. "

" When a journey like the Hard Pan trilogy ends, after years of investment on the part of readers in the characters and the particulars of their lives, I think that the final book usually carries a bit more emotional weight than most stand-alone novels. In this case, I've been reading about Lucky for several years, faithfully obtaining a copy of each new book in the trilogy upon its publication, so for me this is more than just a nice, lovely story coming to a close. Lucky's odyssey toward an understanding of the complexities of living a life that no one among us will ever be able to really control has become an important part of my own life. I clearly see in her my own struggles in coming to peace with living in an unpredictable world where even the most painstaking plans can go completely haywire in the blink of an eye. People disappear from our lives all the time, as was the case with Lucky's mother; she accidentally stepped on a live wire outside of her home one day, and just like that she was gone. Lucky's never even had her father in her life; he was voluntarily missing in action from the very beginning, and were it not for his first wife, Brigitte, flying over from France to act as mother to a young girl she hardly knew and wasn't even related to, Lucky would have been a veritable orphan. But things go wrong so quickly in life, and the sweetness of our moments right now as we live and breath can evaporate before we even finishing taking our next breath, and the house of cards that we're so sure will hold up for us just because we can't imagine it not doing so will always eventually collapse, at least partially. And if we're not ready to pick up the cards and begin rebuilding, prepared at all times to start the rebuilding again because that's what happens in life, then how can we have the elasticity to flex in sync with a world in the midst of permanent change? We can't hold too dearly to what we have or the exact way we have it today, because someday it will be gone, and so the only way to remain happy is to move and change along with everything that we love. This is Lucky's world, and it's ours, too. Not as much happens in Lucky for Good as in the two previous books of the Hard Pan trilogy; the story takes up not too long after the end of Lucky Breaks, with Lucky's friend Lincoln preparing to travel overseas for a big convention of knot tyers in a few weeks. Life around Hard Pan, California has actually been fairly good recently, until a government health man stops by to ask Brigitte a few questions about the French restaurant that she owns. As it turns out, having a restaurant hooked onto one's home is a violation of state health law, and Brigitte will have to find a new place for her restaurant or be put out of business. Her third option, which is to move away from Hard Pan permanently, is too terrible for Lucky to even ponder. Her whole life is here, and all of her friends live in Hard Pan. To leave behind Lincoln, and Miles, and Short Sammy...how could Lucky ever say goodbye to these people? There's a lot that a close-knit town can do to work together and save a friend's business when its existence is jeopardized, though. But even as the residents of Hard Pan try to figure out how to hold on to the town's only ethnic restaurant and its beloved proprietor, Lucky is given a school assignment to make a family tree of the several most recent generations of her relatives, leading down to her. This project, made harder for Lucky by the fact that she's not in touch with any family members, gives her cause to look deeper into the tree on her father's side of the family. There are still so many things that she wonders about him; how did a man who has chosen not to be involved at all in his daughter's life get two wonderful, caring ladies like Lucky's mother and Brigitte to fall in love with and marry him? Is there something about Lucky that has kept him at a distance all these years, something that has made him not want to be a part of her life? Why, when Lucky lost her mother and needed a solid parent more than anything in the world, did her father send Brigitte instead of coming himself? If there are answers to be found beyond the sketchy details she has been told so far, then it will likely be in her family tree that she finds them. So, undaunted by the lack of communication that she has received up until now from her father's side of the family, Lucky dives into her research head-on, hoping the resolutions that she has long sought will finally come her way. Lucky for Good is mostly about the dynamics of change in Lucky's life, though, as she moves toward junior high and the way that she views the world continue to evolve. It's not as if she's growing into something better than she was, or something worse; I think it's just that she is changing, just as the people around her and even the dynamics of the town of Hard Pan are changing, and though it may be frightening to be a part of our constantly shifting world and her own changes may not always synchronize comfortably with those of her friends and loved ones, it's the willingness to change that matters most. Even her relationship with Lincoln is undergoing its own evolution; what has always been a steady, natural friendship may be progressing toward something more as both of them get older. They're comfortable with each other and that really counts for something, and even if Lucky can't guess what might possibly come next between them, she knows that her affection for Lincoln is real. And there's a lot of time for her to figure out exactly what that means. If half-star ratings were available, I would rate Lucky for Good as a solid two-and-a-half. I considered for a long while whether that meant I wanted to round the rating up to three or down to two, but ultimately I had to go for three. Lucky for Good captures some of the same indescribable feelings of quiet awe at the complexities of life in our universe that so beautifully infuse the end of Lucky Breaks, capturing with words the scene of a girl and her friends on the cusp of adolescence, aware that they're moving out into a big, intimidating world together with no way of knowing what's coming or how they're going to react to it. Their life is a story yet to be written, just like all of ours, and I believe that even if Susan Patron were to never write another book about Lucky, her story will continue on in the lives of all of us who have been profoundly impacted by her, and came to understand ourselves better because we loved Lucky and wished so hard for her to be happy. No matter what, our affections will remain with Lucky for good. And, as time goes by, I believe that the Hard Pan trilogy will grow in consideration as one of the more indispensable contributions to contemporary American literature for young readers, an emotionally engaging journey of no easy answers that teaches us about ourselves with a profundity that belies the brevity of each individual book. I recommend The Higher Power of Lucky and its two sequels with the utmost fondness and respect, and I know that I'm not the only one to do so. "

" Really, I'd give it just a 2.5/5...is it because I thought it was the weakest of the trilogy? maybe. "

" Just finished the last two books in this small series by Susan P. Wonderful read about a quirky girl facing challenges in her young life. Even my son has enjoyed these. Must be the science, adventure and number of boys in the story that has kept his interest! "

" Eh. This trilogy goes the same way as all the others: liked the first, 2nd was ok, could've skipped the third. The writing seemed different; it lacked all the things that made the first book enjoyable. "

" I like "Lucky" - she's a great character. Patron preaches a bit in each book about one thing or another but these are easy-to-read and leave a warm feeling. "

" Still didn't like it as much as the first, but I did prefer it to the second book. "

" Satisfying conclusion to the Hard Pan Trilogy. Patron tackles big issues in a thoughtful way. I thought it was a bit off in the pacing, but not enough to deter a young reader. The characters were spot on; especially Lucky in the chapter when she thinks about death. Very relatable for kids. "

" There are parts of this book where the story seemed a little forced and the book itself seemed a little less written and more plotted. Still, a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy that made me wish for more of Lucky's and Lincoln's and Miles' story... "

" The internal conflict Miles goes through may represent the difficulties many children have when trying to reconcile science with religion. "

" Nice conclusion to the Hard Pan trilogy. Lucky shows other kids that they can have a say too. "

" This book has all the wit and heart and soul of The Higher Power of Lucky. I highly recommend it. "

" I really liked this book. I read it in a few days and although some parts are slow, it has a lot of good parts too. "

" Lucky is growing up in the final installment of life in Hard Pan,CA. Pleasant middle grade book. "

" Probably my favorite of the Hard Pan trilogy, and one I felt was the most authentic, most sincere. It lacked the forced feeling of the previous two. Lucky grew up, and so did the books. "

" My favorite of the trilogy! "

" Awesome so far, even though i am not way in... "

" A small-town girl helps her adopted mother save her café and finally feels as if she belongs. "

" I like "Lucky" - she's a great character. Patron preaches a bit in each book about one thing or another but these are easy-to-read and leave a warm feeling. "

" Satisfying conclusion to the Hard Pan Trilogy. Patron tackles big issues in a thoughtful way. I thought it was a bit off in the pacing, but not enough to deter a young reader. The characters were spot on; especially Lucky in the chapter when she thinks about death. Very relatable for kids. "

" I really enjoyed this book. I liked seeing Lucky growing up and finding out about her father. And, as in the other Lucky books there parts that touched my heart and that's what makes a book for me. I especially liked Lucky's thoughts on changes that come into our lives. "