Lolly is Lolly Luck by name, lucky by nature. She always wins magazine competitions, on scratch cards and any game you can think of. But when Lolly’s dad loses his job and then the family home, Lolly’s luck starts to change. And when she overhears her parents arguing, she learns a secret that will change her life forever.This book reminded me of all of my favorite authors when I was younger - Jacqueline Wilson, Cathy Cassidy, authors that could take a serious issue and simplify it to make an entertaining and meaningful book and whilst I do think I would have enjoyed it that little bit more if I was a few years younger, I'm glad that I read it now because now I can respect how well Daines took the pretty deep issue of family reordering and redundancy and unemployment and made it a book that is relevant and accesible to kids.
Lolly was a very endearing character, whilst she wasn't developed very far I don't think that she needs to be, the strengths of this book definitely lie in the issues that are explored and the idea that you make your own luck. None of the characters are particularly memorable but Lolly which i usually would find a put-off but becaus ethis book targets a younger reading age than most of the books that I review do I don't think that the characters really needed that much development.
I love how this book explored other family set-ups, as well as different cultures (like Lolly's St Lucian family) and I think that whilst this book may have seemed a little too young for me, had I been just a couple of years younger I would have totally adored it. i think the only reason this book DID seem young for me was the writing style, which was very simple and understandable whereas I am used to reading involved, complicated books, it did make a nice change. I really did enjoy Ellie Daines writing and would definitely read anything else by her.
Overall, a fantastic book for middle grade readers. I would definitely recommend it to my mum's friend's ten year old as well as a fourteen year old work mate. The strengths are definitely in the issues explored and the way that they are approached.
Overall Rating: B
To be published February 28th by Anderson Press
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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