The Thing About Luck

8/4/2020

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and the Winner, National Book Awards 2013 for Young People's Literature

Cynthia Kadohata

Kodohata's first letter of rejection came from The Atlantic for a story she submitted titled The One Legged Ducks. Fortunately, the rejection did not deter her! She studied journalism at the University of Southern California and has received numerous awards for her books including the Newbery Medal for Kira-Kira and the Jane Addams Peace and PEN America Awards for Weedflower! Kadohata's most recent book, A Place to Belong, was on the 2019 Longlist, National Book Awards for Young People's Literature.

World Context

Once in a while I come across a delightful coming-of-age children's book which is also a doorway to the bigger questions our children will face now and in the next few decades. The Thing About Luck can simply be read for pleasure -- and the readers will appreciate Summer's dry humor about being 12!

But for those interested in a deeper exploration the characters and themes offer a myriad of questions for student exploration. Just a few of these themes and questions include:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition related to brain development which affects perception and socialization, causing problems in social interaction and communication. What can students do to support classmates with ASD?
By 2050 we will need to feed 9 billion people, but agriculture is one of the greatest contributors to climate change. How can the world double the availability of food while simultaneously cutting the environmental harm caused by agriculture?
It is estimated there are more than 500,000 children under 18 who work on farms in the U.S. Missing school for significant parts of each year, these children perform back-breaking labor for long hours in extreme conditions exposed to pesticides at critical times of physical and mental development. According to our federal and state child-labor laws these same children would not be allowed to work in an office. Why does this inequity in the laws continue to exist? What can be done to insure consistent school opportunities for migrant children and youth?

Robbie entered the kitchen next, asking, "Is there coffee?" Obaachan said I couldn't drink coffee because it would stunt my growth. I wondered if she was taking note of how tall Robbie was. Although, I have to say that once, Obaachan had let me taste some, and it was so awful I had no plans to ever drink any again. I had been looking forward to drinking coffee my whole life, but after that I had to cross it off my list of things I wanted to do one day. Actually, I didn't really have a list. It was more like things I made mental notes of. Right then I made a mental note to start keeping a list of things I wanted to do one day. Honestly, I would be happy if I could just visit the Badlands once a month or so. I think that would help me settle my personality.

Julia Kuo, Illustrator

Kuo has illustrated dozens of children's books, nature & science books, posters, murals, and products. She has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and Columbia College Chicago and was an artist-in-residence twice at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Currently, Kuo is a recipient of the Gray Center Mellon Collaborative Fellowship at the University of Chicago working with physicians to understand how illustration effects the barriers between patients and their doctors.

Synopsis

Summer leaves her 6th grade year early to go on harvest with her grandparents while her parents return to Japan to care for their own grandparents. Summer has a full load assisting her grandmother cook for the entire harvesting crew, entertaining her brother Jaz, falling in-and-out-of love with the crew bosses' son, defeating mosquitoes with massive quantities of DEET and completing her schoolwork. When rain threatens the harvest, Summer, understanding her grandfather is too ill to continue the 18-hour workdays, sets out to save her family by driving the combine to get the wheat in at night.

Learning Connections

Autism / Autistic spectrum

Autism Awareness for Elementary School Students, Sara Wylie
Helping Kids Learn About Autism, ASAT, Book suggestions, online resource links, activities
PBS and Autism Awareness, Reading Rockets, PBS resources

Modern farming

What are the Benefits of Agriculture and Farmers? Sciencing
6 Ways to Help at Harvest, Future Farmers of America
How Does a Combine Work?, Millennial Farmer
Technology and the Future of Farming, AgBytes Blog, documentary & activity resources

Child Migrant Farmworkers

Children in the Fields, National Farmworker's Ministry
East of Salinas, Documentary, available through BullFrog Films

Ages: 9-15; middle and young teen readers; 270 pages. Coming of age story for a child migrant worker.