Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Actor Bouvard is perfect fit for the teenage protagonist of West's latest YA drama. Maddie is a high school senior with a type A personality: studious, responsible, organized, anxious about getting into a good college, and constantly worried about lack of money and her dysfunctional family, whom she tries her best to manage and keep together. When she buys a lottery ticket on a whim and wins $30 million, she thinks it will solve all her problems. But a host of new ones arise: people try to scam her, acquaintances try to take advantage of her, and she gets her share of negative media publicity. Narrator Bouvard sounds by turns anxious, hopeful, and excited; her narration makes Maddie an even more human and relatable than she is in the text. Bouvard also creates distinct voices for the other characters, including a French saleswoman and a hilariously snooty Valley girl accent for Trina, the most popular girl in school. Anyone who's ever fantasized about winning the lottery will enjoy this realistic and entertaining tale of an average girl hitting it big. Ages 13-up. A Point hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Maddie is a serious student who worries that her dysfunctional family and lack of money may prevent her from achieving her dream of attending college. When she wins the lottery, she thinks all her problems are behind her-yet her newfound wealth seems to cause more problems than it solves. While the title of the book suggests that Maddie's love life is the central plotline, the story focuses more on how unlucky she is with her financial decisions than on her budding romance with coworker Seth. Although Maddie is smart, she is also young, naive, and ill equipped to handle the great responsibility that comes with such a huge fortune. Her parents provide little guidance, and she must figure out on her own how to adjust to her new reality as a multimillionaire. Laurence Bouvard narrates, giving Maddie a sweet and innocent voice that increases in confidence at the conclusion as she gains more control over her life. VERDICT Listeners might be frustrated by Maddie's early choices, which seem out of character for someone so sensible, but will enjoy thinking about how they would spend the money differently if they were in her shoes.-Theresa Horn, St. Joseph County Public Library, South Bend, IN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Eighteen-year-old Maddie doesn't believe in luck; instead, she prefers hard work and planning. But the high-school senior never planned to win millions in the lottery, and her relationships, decision-making capabilities, and confidence suffer when she does. Despite the predictable plot line of people trying to take advantage of Maddie for her money, sympathetic characters will hold readers' interest in this otherwise light romantic read. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A teen discovers that winning the lottery has an inescapable downside. Maddie's one of nature's caretakers, a worrier with plenty to worry about. Money's tight at home; her unemployed dad and overworked mom fight all the time; her college-dropout brother sleeps all day. On her 18th birthday, a convenience-store clerk talks her into buying a lottery ticket, winning her a $30 million payout. Keenly aware her wealth's unearned, Maddie's impulse is to make generous gifts to her parents and brother. A relative she's never met solicits investment in his real estate deal. As news of her win spreads, a popular classmate persuades her to buy a sports car from her dad, curating Maddie's makeover and stylish do with blonde highlights. Maddie's old friends feel discarded, but she's overwhelmed as her generosity's met with envy, resentment, demands, and betrayal, even from family. Money can't fix what's broken. Only Maddie's friendship with Seth Nguyen feels uncorrupted. Artistic, genial, observant, confronting cultural bias with pointed humor, he's her romantic anchor. Seth's an American kid of Vietnamese-American, U.S.-born parents, a rarity in teen literature, but in their California region, where 20 percent of residents have Asian roots, he and white Maddie inhabit the same cultural mainstream. The romantic cover photo positions both side to, but while Maddie's race, with her long blonde hair and fair skin, is clearly conveyed, black-haired, olive-skinned Seth's is more ambiguousit's disappointing this Asian-American romantic hero isn't firmly announced as such. There's a wealth of profoundly topical, thematic territory to explore in lottery wins; this iteration, with its cast of culturally and economically diverse characters, is especially resonant. (Fiction. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
