In Dead Pan, (population 43), the members of the smokers' anonymous, drinkers' anonymous, and gamblers' anonymous all seem to have found their higher power. Ten year old Lucky listens through a hole in the wall at every meeting that takes place at Hard Pan's Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center in the hopes of discovering how to find her Higher Power. Most of the stories involve hitting "rock bottom" and then discovering this elusive higher power. Lucky hopes that finding her higher power will help her figure out a way to keep Brigitte, her guardian from wanting to go back to France. Lucky is afraid that since her father doesn't want her and her mother died in an accident that she will be sent to live in an orphanage in LA.
Author Susan Patron has brought to life this sandy colored little girl whose curiosity about science (in particular bugs) and occasional mean streak in a way that children and adults can relate too. Winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal, The Higher Power of Lucky is a poignant story with a happy ending.