LUCKY ME, LUCY MCGEE

Lucy McGee and her ukulele-strumming classmates are thrilled that performers Ben & Bree are coming to town for a one-night concert.

For Lucy, it seems like a godsend; she can’t find her ukulele anywhere, and the professionals will be giving one away at the concert. If she can go, and if she wins, she’ll never have to tell her parents she’s lost hers. But her dreams land with a loud thud when her father says the tickets are too expensive. Among the members of the Songwriting Club, only Scarlett has parents who will buy tickets, and they get an extra for one of her friends. Scarlett seems perfectly willing to sell that one to the highest bidder—whichever of her friends can fawn the most enthusiastically over her. Meanwhile, at home, Lucy’s younger brother, Leo, has turned “turtle,” becoming sad and withdrawn. The ukulele is finally found only after Lucy spills the lost-ukulele beans to her dad, who then cleverly connects the dots right back to guilty Leo. In a funny, believable way, neatly sketched Lucy and her pals perfectly capture children at that moment when they are full of dreams and schemes but sadly short of power. Scarlett’s willful conniving is particularly humorous. Appearing on most pages, Meserve’s captivating illustrations depict Lucy (and her family) and Scarlett as white and their classmates as diverse.

This sweet, empathetically savvy tale is sure to appeal to those transitioning to chapter books. (Fiction. 6-9)