“Petey’s sweaty little hand wriggled in mine.”

From Jenny Goebel’s Fortune Falls.

Almost-12-year-old Sadie lives with her mom and little brother (Petey) in the town of Fortune Falls; it’s a very unique place because luck, superstitions, and charms are very real and the driving force behind life in Fortune Falls.  The people of Fortune Falls are divided into three groups: Lucky, Unlucky, and Undetermined (what all kids are classified as until they take the Luck Test at age 12).  The Luck Test determines each child’s future education (fancy day school or prison-like boarding school) and it also determines their social standing (Luckies don’t do hard, physical labor) and the rest of their life… which is very bad for Sadie, because she is definitely not lucky and only days away from taking the Test.  Her only hope is to use her birthday wish to pass the test, but she breaks a mirror, the family dog runs away, and a scrawny black cat starts stalking her, and all of Sadie’s plans begin to come crashing down around her.  As she desperately searches for some kind of Luck to help her survive the week, Sadie has to face her bad luck head on if she wants to have any chance of staying with her family and out of the Unlucky boarding school.

Goebel does a fascinating job of creating a memorable and captivating story; the settings and characters are easy to connect with, especially the main character’s attitude and narration style.  There are plenty of superstitions and challenges for the main character to overcome (enough that some that will be new to readers), so the story never lags.  Fortune Falls is a quick, but definitely memorable read that readers of all ages will thoroughly enjoy!