Fortune Falls, written by Jenny Goebel, reviewed by Todd Erickson

Summary: After a string of bad luck, 12 year old Sadie is one of the unluckiest girls in Fortunate Falls, the magical town where if you're one of the Luckies - life is the goose that laid the golden egg. Unlucky Sadie will probably fail her big luck test and be sent away at age 12 to Bane boarding school, where all Unluckies are sent to protect their loved ones. Might not be a bad idea since Sadies dad has already died, her dog has ended up missing and her little brother just wants to be spared of her bad ju-ju. She and best friend Cooper devise a plan to reverse her fortune. But will it work, or has all her luck run out? 

Straight Talk for Librarians: This book reads like a clever joke that gets old fast. It's vapid enough to be entertaining, but and Sadie seems stuck in the shallow end of the wishing well. She doesn't ask for much, just enough luck to be spared banishment from her basic life in her inane town. Luckily the author ditches the thesaurus early on, and it is reasonably well written. But the tone of this book is off putting, it seems a little too happy go lucky for a girl with such bad luck written in her stars. A tacked on ending with Sadie saving the day for some fellow Unluckies seems like an afterthought to redeem Sadie, who seemed like she'd settle for being just lucky enough to dance with Cooper at the school dance.