You May Already Be a Winner

This year our school decided it would be fun to gift every single 7th grader at our school with a book to read. Administration put some thought and consideration into which book they'd like to give them and finally we were able to distribute them right before Christmas. And last week I finally got around to reading the book myself. What a great choice!

We gave our students each a copy of You May Already Be a Winner by Ann Dee Ellis. Part of what made this so exciting and engaging for students is that the author is from Utah, the book is set in our county, and there were so many great allusions to places that students would be familiar with. Students were delighted with references to Waffle Love, Lagoon, Provo River Bike Trail, and even Dixon Middle School. 

This book centers on the life of twelve-year-old Olivia. She lives in a trailer park with her mom and her little sister, Berkeley. She does nearly everything she can to make sure that her family is taken care of such as staying home with her sister while her mom goes to work, cooking dinner and putting her sister to bed, sneaking her sister into school with her when they can't afford to go to daycare, and entering as many sweepstakes as she can so they can win free prizes. But this doesn't solve all of their problems--especially since her dad left. And Olivia slowly realizes that she can't do everything herself and she needs people to take care of her instead of always taking care of other people.

This story really reminded me of how unique everyone's circumstances are. Many of my students might experience many of the same home responsibilities that Olivia does. I'm sure that some of my students might see this book as a mirror of their own experiences. And if not, they see it as a window into the lives of someone who might have a harder life than theirs. 

All of the feedback I've heard from my students who read the book has been phenomenal! They love the writing and find the story so engaging. Many of them read it very quickly and reported back to me as soon as they had finished it. 

I thought it was a great read and excellent realistic fiction that covers a hard topic but also doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a lot of playfulness in it with Olivia's imagined realities and the new friend she makes. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for book to gift a middle schooler--especially from Utah. You can purchase a copy here!