Just My Luck: The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller from the author of gripping domestic thrillers and bestsellers like Lies Lies Lies

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This is mostly about Benny, who finds a new best friend but also has to deal with his autistic brother and his father's sickness. Benny is the youngest sibling, has some heavy weights on his shoulders to begin with his dad is recovering after a brain operation that Benny blames himself for.

Just My Luck by Adele Parks | Goodreads

Overall, I thought McGovern did a terrific job of tackling Big Issues (illness, autism, trouble paying the bills) on a level appropriate for a middle-grade audience, while still creating really strong characters and also not coming across as false or preachy in any way. And I am also highly aware that as much as the characters were antagonizing me, I couldn’t have stopped reading about them as I was intrigued and rather desperate to know what was going to result from their flailing. One cool thing you can do with Bookshelves is see which other members have read or want to read a certain book. the story shows what strong emotions greed and envy are, and can make people do the most unthinkable things. There are alot of nasty characters in this book -money certainly does bring out the worst in people.

Adele has written 19 contemporary novels and 2 historical ones, Spare Brides and If You Go Away, which are set during and after WW1. Highly reminiscent of Lisa Graff's outstanding Absolutely Almost, Just My Luck is the story of a young for his age fourth grade boy wrestling with the guilt and worry he feels surrounding his father's aneurysm.

Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern | Goodreads Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern | Goodreads

WARNING: None of the characters are likable, although I did admire Lexi's desire to continue working and donate a portion of the lottery winnings to charity. His family already had a lot on their plate, dealing with Benny's autistic older brother, George (who, despite not being able to tie his shoes, can do tricks on HIS bike. It was hard to read that from a child's perspective because he didn't have the reasoning skills yet to realize it wasn't his fault. But overall I didn't really get into this one much - entertaining enough to keep me going but not one I'd read again or anything.Lexi is weak-willed and does very little to arrest the tide of Jake’s largesse and is more of a bystander to events than an active participant. If you ever thought you wanted to win the lottery, this is a great book to let you know why you don't.