[Avery Sisters Trilogy 01] • Lucky

Phoebe Avery has always been a lucky girl.

Popular, smart, and beautiful, Phoebe has it all. She's even planning the hottest party ever with her four best friends to celebrate their middle school graduation. With the perfect green dress picked out at Neiman Marcus and half her class clamoring for invites, plus a new guy to crush on, Phoebe could not be in a better mood—until it looks like the party might be over before it can even start.

When Phoebe's family is suddenly faced with losing it all, she discovers that there is more at risk than just her designer jeans. In a town where gossip rules, Phoebe needs to keep everything a secret, or she may lose her friends too. Can lucky Phoebe really be out of luck?

From BooklistFourteen-year-old Phoebe had never really considered the role that wealth and popularity played in her “lucky” life until both are threatened after her mom suddenly loses her job. Now her parents can’t afford to pay for Phoebe’s expensive eighth-grade graduation party or the green Vera Wang dress she was dreaming of wearing to it. At first, she tries to convince her sisters and four best friends that everything is still “all good.” But after some tearful soul-searching, Phoebe faces up to the truth, and she discovers that she’s still rich in friendship and also lucky in love. This entertaining, albeit predictable, first volume in a planned trilogy will appeal to Meg Cabot and Maureen Johnson groupies, as well as fans of Michael Simmons’ Pool Boy (2003). Vail’s insightful characterizations of teen girls and their shifting loyalties is right on target, and her insertion of several uncomfortably realistic moments, such as when Phoebe’s mom’s credit card is publicly confiscated, will leave readers squirming in embarrassed sympathy. Grades 7-10. --Jennifer Hubert

Review“This is superior for its realism, its moderation, and its understated complexity of characters and relationships. Readers will drink up the drama and impatiently await the planned follow up titles.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review) )

“Vail (You, Maybe) again demonstrates a penetrating insight into the concerns of young teen girls, this time upending the conventions of the rich-girl novel… Readers will absorb this in one fell swoop.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

“Kindness and understanding emerge in unexpected, fresh, and satisfying ways, and readers will be looking forward to finding out what lies ahead for the Avery family” (School Library Journal )