Lucky in Love

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.