![]() ![]() The messages of LUCKY STRIKE are pretty simple: good friends stick with you through thick and thin, and fancy new things aren't always better than what you had. However, I did like that both friends get their say. I did find it slightly awkward that LUCKY STRIKE starts switching to Gen's point of view at this point when the beginning is firmly in Nate's point of view. It's hard to see a nice kid succumb to popularity like that, but it is believable that Nate wouldn't know how to handle all of the changes in his life gracefully. Post-strike, he is excited by his new opportunities to make friends and lashes out when Gen's lack of social skill makes it harder for him to fit it. Pre-strike, Nate is best friends with Genesis "Gen" Beam and firm in his solidarity with her as the two biggest losers around. After all, as Gen's mother points out, much of the changes in Nate's life could come from his increased self-confidence. Nate's luck (good and bad) strains credulity, as do other events in the novel, but there is no concrete statement that it is all real or all imaginary. I liked that LUCKY STRIKE was ambiguous about whether there was anything magical happening. Then he's struck by lightning on his birthday and everything turns around. He takes pictures of lost shoes, hoping that one day he can reunite a pair, that maybe that will be good luck. His toast is always burnt, and he can never call a coin correctly. Nate Harlow is the unluckiest boy in town. ![]()
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