Lucky Strikes

by Louis Bayard

Overview

With her mama recently dead and her pa sight unseen since birth, Amelia is suddenly in charge of her younger brother and sister—and of the family gas station. Harley Blevins, local king and emperor of Standard Oil, is in hot pursuit to clinch his fuel monopoly. To keep him at bay and keep her family out of foster care, Melia must come up with a father—and fast. And so when a hobo rolls out of a passing truck, Melia grabs opportunity by its beard. Can she hold off the hounds till she comes of age?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627793902
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,094,223
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	HL690L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Louis Bayard is a New York Times Notable author and has been nominated for both the Edgar® and Dagger awards for his adult historical thrillers, which include The Pale Blue Eye and Mr. Timothy. He teaches creative writing at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Editorial Reviews

…sublime…Melia is an immediately endearing character, and her wiseacre narration is both droll and affecting. A mechanical genius who can make a pair of squeaky brakes "quiet as a queen's fart" with only a little castor oil, she faces her hardships…with pluck and ingenuity. And the post-Prohibition setting allows Bayard…to endow his narrator with freedoms most contemporary children can only dream of…Lucky Strikes is a near-perfect novel, rich in voice and emotion. Much like Melia herself, it is brash with bravado, barely concealing an inviting layer of warmth at its core.

The New York Times Book Review - Lisa Graff

★ 06/13/2016
Featuring a heroine as pragmatic and resourceful as Mary Call from Where the Lilies Bloom, adult author Bayard's (Roosevelt's Beast) poignant Depression-era novel traces the struggles of 14-year-old Melia Hoyle and her siblings after their mother's death. Now orphaned, Melia has to care for siblings Janey and Earle, keep the family gas station running, and find a legal guardian so they won't be put into foster care. Unexpected help comes from a down-and-out hobo, Hiram Watts, who agrees to pose as their estranged father. While he spends his days holed up in a tiny bedroom, Melia pumps gas and fixes engines. The deception works for a while, but a competing businessman, Harley Blevins, is bent on bringing down Melia and the gas station. Set in rural Virginia and told through Melia's no-nonsense narration, this period novel evokes the stoicism of mountain people and the ways neighbors help each other during hard times. Although a loner by nature, Melia's uncompromising integrity wins the trust and affection of community members while earning her a steady stream of customers, too. Ages 12–up. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House. (July)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—Notable adult author Bayard tries his hand at writing for young teens with the story of 14-year-old Virginia-born Amelia. Raised with no father and an ailing mother, Amelia has been forced into the role of head of household for most of her young life. When her mother passes away, Amelia takes it upon herself to keep what's left of her small family together. With no parents to help and the Great Depression still having its effect on businesses, the family service station is losing money fast. In an effort to keep the station running and prevent her siblings from being sent to separate foster homes, Amelia devises a plan to turn a homeless drifter into a makeshift father. Can she convince the town that Hiram is her long-lost father, allowing them to evade child services? Or will bringing a homeless man into her family lead to more trouble? Bayard deftly depicts life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Reading about the poverty experienced by the characters will bring awareness to the struggles families endured during the Depression. VERDICT A great read for history buffs.—Paula Bonifer, Pendleton Public Library, OR

School Library Journal

★ 2016-03-30
"Mama died hard. You should know that."Thus begins the sparkling upper-middle-grade debut from adult fiction writer Bayard (Roosevelt's Beast, 2014, etc.). Fourteen-year-old Melia, resilient, pragmatic, a talented mechanic, self-described Gas Station Pagan, and quite often profane, has been running the family's filling station in rural Walnut Ridge, Virginia, ever since Mama took sick months ago. It ain't easy, what with the Depression and younger siblings Earle and Janey to care for, but she doesn't have a choice—Earle and Janey's daddy is in the state pen, and Melia never knew a thing about her own father. Desperate to keep the family together after Mama dies, she hires a drunken hobo who falls off a coal truck to impersonate her parent. Sobered up, Hiram reveals a flair for wild invention, which helps them stave off the machinations of Harley Blevins, "emperor" of Standard Oil, who plots to destroy their business and, in doing so, nearly destroys their family. Told in Melia's brisk voice, with fast pacing and a strong cast of characters (all white, reflecting the demographic of the setting), the story hurtles to a surprising, honest conclusion—the "you" addressed in the first line is a tender surprise.A grand adventure. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

"This is a darn good yarn with plenty of room for rooting and more than a few laughs." —Booklist, starred review on Lucky Strikes

"The story hurtles to a surprising, honest conclusion—the "you" addressed in the first line is a tender surprise. A grand adventure." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review on Lucky Strikes

"[Features] a heroine as pragmatic and resourceful as Mary Call from Where the Lilies Bloom . . . Melia's uncompromising integrity wins the trust and affection of community members while earning her a steady stream of customers, too." —Publishers Weekly, starred review on Lucky Strikes

"Lucky Strikes is a near-perfect novel, rich in voice and emotion. Much like Melia herself, it is brash with bravado, barely concealing an inviting layer of warmth at its core." —The New York Times Book Review on Lucky Strikes

"Shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental . . . reads like a lost classic. Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction.” —The New York Times Book Review on The Pale Blue Eye

“Brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver.” —Sunday Times (London) on The Pale Blue Eye

A dazzling blend of literary fiction and white-knuckle thriller.” —People on Mr. Timothy

From the Publisher