Book Review; Three Times Lucky

"Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage.

This is a great middle reader book, though I must admit, it took me a couple of chapters to get in to it. There are a lot of characters and they are all seem to be introduced at once at the local restaurant, which was a tad bit confusing. Millie (9yo) started it a couple of days ago and she feels the same way. She wanted to stop, but I told her to keep going because it will be worth it!

The story is about a baby who was found during a hurricane, found floating in the flooding on a billboard by a man who has completely lost his memory. He names her Mo, short for Moses. She grows up in a very small town full of an eclectic group of people. It's almost over the top, to be honest, a little hard to believe until I decided to suspend my belief for the sake of the story, which is a really fun story.

When a big city detective comes to town and a dead body is found by the river, Mo gets involved in the biggest mystery ever to set foot in their small town. The action really goes into overdrive when another big storm hits land. There is a little violence which is not seen but alluded to. (Child abuse by a drunken father, kidnapping, blood smeared on a wall.) So if your reader is too young, it might raise some questions to discuss together. I'll see how it goes with Millie.

Clearly, the driving force of this novel is Mo. She is an orphan with a lot of personality and very sympathetic at the same time. She's spunky and entertaining, but also endearing and so easy to love. I couldn't wait for Mill to read this. This is a great story full of fun characters and an exciting mystery. Readers of all ages will enjoy this book.