Lucky by Rachel Vail

Phoebe Avery is about to graduate from middle school, and she couldn’t be more thrilled. But it’s mostly the graduation party that she’s excited about, because it’s a chance to be with her best friends having fun in a fabulous dress. But something goes wrong. It turns out that Phoebe’s mother has lost her job. Now the family is in a financial crisis. Phoebe can no longer afford to pay her share for the party.

She’s too embarrassed to tell her friends her economic situation. Even though she’s been friends with these girls since elementary school, she doesn’t quite trust them completely, especially her friend Kirstyn, who seems even more self-centered than usual. Phoebe isn’t very close to her two older sisters, so she can’t really confide in them. Her parents are too stressed out. To top that off, she’s not quite sure if she like likes Luke. Phoebe has no one to turn to. She needs to stick it out by herself.

When I first read the summary for Lucky, I thought that it was going to be another book like Gossip Girl, but I was wrong. The summary says that there is a “family scandal,” but I thought that a rich family losing money was hardly scandalous, though that is just my opinion. I was actually glad that Lucky wasn’t one of those shallow teenager books, and it was a refreshing read.

Lucky was a thoroughly enjoyable book for me even though it would be better for the middle school crowd. Phoebe’s character is funny, and while she isn’t extremely deep, she isn’t shallow either. It was easy to sympathize with her. The ending was a little too cheesy for my taste, but I appreciated that Phoebe was making amends with her family, friends, and potential boyfriend. I was glad that Phoebe could find her inner strength. My overall favorite part was the references to a gorgeous green Vera Wang dress that is displayed on the cover because of its symbolism.

I definitely recommend this novel to all young readers. I also look forward to more books from Rachel Vail, especially more from the Avery sisters.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from publisher HarperCollins