by Jamie Pacton
From Goodreads:
A hilarious and poignant reflection on what money can and cannot fix
58,642,129. That’s how many dollars seventeen-year-old Fortuna Jane Belleweather just won in the lotto jackpot. It’s also about how many reasons she has for not coming forward to claim her prize.
Problem #1: Jane is still a minor, and if anyone discovers she bought the ticket underage, she’ll either have to forfeit the ticket, or worse . . .
Problem #2: Let her hoarder mother cash it. The last thing Jane’s mom needs is millions of dollars to buy more junk. Then . . .
Problem #3: Jane’s best friend, aspiring journalist Brandon Kim, declares on the news that he’s going to find the lucky winner. It’s one thing to keep her secret from the town — it’s another thing entirely to lie to her best friend. Especially when . . .
Problem #4: Jane’s ex-boyfriend, Holden, is suddenly back in her life, and he has big ideas about what he’d do with the prize money. As suspicion and jealousy turn neighbor against neighbor, and no good options for cashing the ticket come forward, Jane begins to wonder: Could this much money actually be a bad thing.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
"The heart is a wild creature that walks its own path."
What would you do with a million dollars? I think most (if not all) of us have, at least once, ruminated this question. Would you buy a new house? Travel the world? Sail in your own yacht? Donate to charity? Invest all the money? Whatever the answer is, I think we can all agree that we rarely think about how something so good and miraculous could also be bad and terrifying.
Lucky Girl does a good job of addressing the what-ifs and the great unknown of becoming the sole person whose life will forever change with a million dollars worth of a piece of paper.
Going on this journey with Jane was really fun and was quite an experience! She's a very likable and a very relatable heroine. She's funny, smart and genuine. She dreams of becoming an oceanographer and finds solace in the ocean. She's a teenager on the cusp of becoming a multimillionaire. One would think, with this much money, all her problems would be solved just like that. *snaps finger* But quite the opposite. She will question her choices. She will get her heart broken. She will have to trust herself and stay true. She will learn that family (and real friends) is always all there is. She will come to realize that sometimes becoming a multimillionaire isn't as grand as it sounds. And that there are some things you can never have even with a million dollars.
I love Jamie Pacton's writing. It's short, direct, thoughtful and for a book this short, it sure packs a punch! I also really adore Jane's no nonsense grandmother and Bran's unique brand of loyalty. If I want a bestfriend for life, I'd be lucky to have someone half as caring and kind and loyal as Bran.
Lucky Girl is all parts sweet, endearing, hilarious, thought-provoking and real.
I received an ARC to read and review.
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