May 1, 2017
A teen discovers that winning the lottery has an inescapable downside. Maddie's one of nature's caretakers, a worrier with plenty to worry about. Money's tight at home; her unemployed dad and overworked mom fight all the time; her college-dropout brother sleeps all day. On her 18th birthday, a convenience-store clerk talks her into buying a lottery ticket, winning her a $30 million payout. Keenly aware her wealth's unearned, Maddie's impulse is to make generous gifts to her parents and brother. A relative she's never met solicits investment in his real estate deal. As news of her win spreads, a popular classmate persuades her to buy a sports car from her dad, curating Maddie's makeover and stylish do with blonde highlights. Maddie's old friends feel discarded, but she's overwhelmed as her generosity's met with envy, resentment, demands, and betrayal, even from family. Money can't fix what's broken. Only Maddie's friendship with Seth Nguyen feels uncorrupted. Artistic, genial, observant, confronting cultural bias with pointed humor, he's her romantic anchor. Seth's an American kid of Vietnamese-American, U.S.-born parents, a rarity in teen literature, but in their California region, where 20 percent of residents have Asian roots, he and white Maddie inhabit the same cultural mainstream. The romantic cover photo positions both side to, but while Maddie's race, with her long blonde hair and fair skin, is clearly conveyed, black-haired, olive-skinned Seth's is more ambiguous--it's disappointing this Asian-American romantic hero isn't firmly announced as such. There's a wealth of profoundly topical, thematic territory to explore in lottery wins; this iteration, with its cast of culturally and economically diverse characters, is especially resonant. (Fiction. 12-16)
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June 1, 2017
Gr 8 Up-Maddie's world is about to change. She's a senior in high school, waiting for college acceptance letters to start rolling in. UCLA, Stanford, San Diego State-Maddie expects to get into them all. She has been doing nothing else but studying and working for all of high school, and now she's ready for her efforts to pay off. And pay off they do: on her 18th birthday, on a whim, Maddie plays the lottery and wins! The money-$50 million -solves a lot of problems, such as college tuition and her family's financial troubles. But with this windfall comes a cost. It's hard to stay focused on what matters, and it's even harder to know whom to trust. Practical Maddie is torn between the easy life and the life she has worked so hard to make for herself. In the end, she finds a balance-friends, family, college, money, and the Boy-with a few stumbles along the way. A quick read with lots of dialogue, the story is sweet and safe, and Maddie's stumbles are swiftly remedied. VERDICT Lighthearted, romantic but never gratuitous, and honest without being overbearing. Fans of Susane Colasanti, Jennifer E. Smith, and Jenny Han will enjoy this smart girl protagonist dealing with the typical (and not-so-typical) drama that senior year of high school brings.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 27, 2017
Actor Bouvard is perfect fit for the teenage protagonist of West’s latest YA drama. Maddie is a high school senior with a type A personality: studious, responsible, organized, anxious about getting into a good college, and constantly worried about lack of money and her dysfunctional family, whom she tries her best to manage and keep together. When she buys a lottery ticket on a whim and wins $30 million, she thinks it will solve all her problems. But a host of new ones arise: people try to scam her, acquaintances try to take advantage of her, and she gets her share of negative media publicity. Narrator Bouvard sounds by turns anxious, hopeful, and excited; her narration makes Maddie an even more human and relatable than she is in the text. Bouvard also creates distinct voices for the other characters, including a French saleswoman and a hilariously snooty Valley girl accent for Trina, the most popular girl in school. Anyone who’s ever fantasized about winning the lottery will enjoy this realistic and entertaining tale of an average girl hitting it big. Ages 13–up. A Point hardcover.
July 1, 2018
Eighteen-year-old Maddie doesn't believe in luck; instead, she prefers hard work and planning. But the high-school senior never planned to win millions in the lottery, and her relationships, decision-making capabilities, and confidence suffer when she does. Despite the predictable plot line of people trying to take advantage of Maddie for her money, sympathetic characters will hold readers' interest in this otherwise light romantic read.
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)