The Luckiest Scar on Earth

Gr 7 Up—When Charlotte has to move from her beloved Rocky Mountains in Colorado to Washington State, she plans to leave her snowboard—and her racing dreams—behind. Instead, her board propels her into a relationship with her father, a fight to save the local ski resort, and a new definition of "home." Charlotte hasn't seen her father, Larry, since she was five. Now that she has moved to his town, though, her mom is adamant that they meet. Larry turns out to be a quiet man with "Get Obsessed" and "Stay Obsessed" written in Sharpie on the backs of his hands. He also has a huge scar running across his face from a chainsaw accident and a passion for saving the environment. Larry takes a part-time job at a ski resort so that Charlotte will have a free lift ticket, but after he signs a petition to block development of the resort, Charlotte's lift ticket and her plans to return to racing are jeopardized. This refreshing bildungsroman is full of characters who could have been clichéd types: the vegetarian mother, the reclusive father, wealthy snowboarders, and migrant workers. Instead, readers are along for the ride as Charlotte gets to know the complex, surprising people surrounding her—and the true meaning of that lucky scar on her father's face.