The Lucky Place - Hardcover

Vincent, Zu

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1932425705 ISBN 13: 9781932425703

Publisher: Front Street, Incorporated, 2008

Synopsis

Cassie finds her inner strength through experiencing heartbreaking events. The Lucky Place begins at a horse racetrack, where Cassie, age three, and her brother Jamie, age five, accompany their father on a drinking and betting spree. As she goes with him to make yet another bet, her hand slips out of his and she loses him. When Cassie has been delivered safely home, Cassie's mother is angry and Cassie vows never to lose Daddy again. But before long, Mama has had enough of Cassie's father. She introduces Cassie and Jamie to Ellis. Cassie's father slowly exits from her life as Ellis enters it, eventually becoming her stepfather. Her father continues to pop in and out of her life unexpectedly, while Ellis provides a stable, loving home. Just when life seems pretty wonderful, Ellis is diagnosed with cancer. He takes the family on a summer-long camping trip where he spends time with Cassie. From early childhood to early adolescence, her experiences with both fathers generate conflict and loss and help Cassie discover that her true lucky place is within herself.

Here's what I think. I think having two daddies is like riding the elephant. You don't know until you get up there what an elephant smells like, or how high you will be on the elephant's back. But then you realize. And the basket tips one way and then the other, like you might fall, every time the elephant steps. —FROM THE BOOK

About this title

About the Author

Zu Vincent holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She is a former senior editor of the art magazine Expressions and has produced book-length nonfiction as well as short stories, a play, and numerous feature articles and photos for various newspapers and national magazines. She lives on the edge of California's Irish Wilderness.

Reviews

Grade 6–9—Readers meet Cassie when she is three years old and her inebriated father leaves her behind at the racetrack. Her older brother Jamie is just capable of keeping up with his dad, but not able to make him realize that his sister has gotten lost. She is returned home by the police and their mother eventually realizes that this man is not a competent father. Cassie relates the story, noticing events and describing them as a young child does, requiring readers to complete the picture. Mom brings home Ellis, New Daddy, and Cassie can't help but feel his strength. Old Daddy tries to hold the children's loyalty, even as Ellis becomes increasingly the presence and support they need. Cassie's voice changes as she grows into a 12-year-old who comes to know that inside herself is the real lucky place that she can truly count on. The adults in her world have vices and character defects aplenty, but mostly they love her and do what they can to make things right. Taking place in California in the late 1950s and early '60s in one of those identical tract-home subdivisions, Vincent's novel ably creates a world that makes promises it can't keep. The sadness of life and the way children absorb the sorrows around them are convincingly conveyed. The uncertainty of Cassie's relationships with her step, whole, and half brothers, as well as with the Daddies and her mother, stays true to a child's understanding and attempts to decode events. A stunning fiction debut by an author to watch.—Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library
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Cassie’s first-person story starts at age three, when her father forgets her at the racetrack. After her parents divorce, her mother soon marries Ellis, who becomes the “New Daddy.” Cassie’s older brother, Jamie, longs  for Old Daddy, but Cassie is torn between her affection for her imperfect father and her growing love for the new one, who moves the family to a nicer home in a new California subdivision. The 1960s setting is infused with small details from a child’s viewpoint, providing a solid backdrop to the timeless story of changing family dynamics and allegiances. After Ellis is diagnosed with cancer when Cassie is 12, she and her family again struggle emotionally and financially, and her mother’s drinking problem escalates. Cassie might be faulted for sounding too mature for her age, but like many children in similar situations, her story is all too realistic. She learns that the “lucky place” isn’t a street address but a spot inside herself. Fans of Nancy Werlin’s Rules of Survival (2006) are a natural for this sad but hopeful story. Grades 7-10. --Cindy Dobrez

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Here's what I think. I think having two daddies is like riding the elephant. You don't know until you get up there what an elephant smells like, or how high you will be on the elephant's back. But then you realize. And the basket tips one way and then the other, like you might fall, every time the elephant steps. —FROM THE BOOK

Edition details

• Publisher: Front Street, Incorporated
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1932425705
• ISBN 13: 9781932425703
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232