about the book
Scrawnier than most, Nate Harlow is a quirky kid. He shoots photos of just one thing—single shoes mysteriously separated from their mates. The tiny Florida trailer he shares with his grandfather is filled with one-of-a-kind broken flip-flops and tattered sneakers. He’s always hoping he’ll be lucky enough to find a mate to one of the shoes. But then, luck is not Nate’s strong suite.
Nate is not just unlucky, he is spectacularly unlucky…and that bad luck seems to rub off on any one around him. His hound dog was snatched up by a tornado and his parents were killed by a drunk driver. The 313 residents of his hometown, Paradise Beach, keep him as far away as possible. All except for his one and only friend, Genesis Beam.
Gen’s dad is the preacher at The Church of the One True Redeemer and Everlasting Light, her mom is a super good cook, and her two sets of twin siblings treat Nate as a brother. The smartest girl in the county, Gen doesn’t believe in luck. She fiercely believes in probability and science. She is especially concerned about saving the endangered loggerhead turtles.
On the eleventh of April, Nate’s celebrates his eleventh birthday—that’s gotta mean something lucky! As he wishes deeply for just one good thing to happen, he slips his rubbed-bald lucky rabbit foot into his pocket. Grandpa doesn’t have any charter trips booked for the Sweet Jodi, so he is taking Nate and Gen to play mini golf at the Goofy Golf course. With not a cloud in the sky, it is the perfect day for the outing…until Nate is struck by lightning, zapped literally right out of the blue!
But the amazing thing is that Nate survives! It’s as if he acquired the magic touch! Now a local hero, his good fortune is rubbing off on others. Even baseballs are attracted to him; he’s now got amazing inexplicable athletic skills. The popular kids come flocking to him, vying for his friendship.
With his newfound status, there doesn’t seem to be room for Gen in Nate’s lucky new world. But good luck may not be all that it’s cracked up to be. Will Nate learn how to handle this change, and, more importantly, will he be there for Gen when she needs him the most?
about the author
Bobbie Pyron grew up in Hollywood, Florida, right near the beach. She dreamed of being a mermaid. Since that was unlikely, she decided she would grow up to be a frog!
A shy quiet child, Bobbie was a worrier. Lucky for her, her parents were patient and her older sister was good at distracting her with imaginative stories. As she got older, Bobbie devoured books, especially about animals. At the age of nine, she decided to write her own book but gave up after thirty-two pages. Her hand hurt. Writing was too hard!
Her life took many turns. She went to college and earned degrees in psychology and anthropology and became a singer in a rock and roll band. She went back to school to get a librarian degree and worked as a dog trainer, a gladiola harvester, and a wilderness education instructor. For the last twenty-five years, she has worked as a librarian in Salt Lake City.
About six years ago, Bobbie wrote her first real novel…and yes it was still really hard work, even though this time she didn’t try to write it all out in longhand! Lucky Strike is her third book.
Now, she has a lovely room just for penning novels. It overlooks the quaking aspens and the apple tree her grandchildren gave her. Bobbie lives way up in the mountains in Park City, Utah, with her husband Todd Buckley and their zoo.
Boo is a feral coyote-herding dog mix they took in; Teddy is a sheltie rescue who writes book reviews for the Summit County Friends of Animals newsletter; Sherlock, also a rescued sheltie once terrified of people, is very happy with his new home. The three pooches are joined by felines Mittens and Kami. Bobbie is a proud member of the Dog Writers Association of America.
She and Todd also raised three children but Bobbie never once changed a diaper! Brian, Todd, and Shay are her stepchildren and came into her life totally potty trained!
Sources:
Author website
Book Trailer: Lucky Strike
Also by Bobbie Pyron:
The Dogs of Winter. Katherine Tegen Books. 2012.
A Dog’s Way Home. Katherine Tegen Books. 2011.
read more!
Caitlin’s Lucky Charm (Charmed Life, Book 1) by Lisa Schroeder
At summer camp, four girls, each facing different issues at home, meet for the very first time and become BFFs. Together they purchase a lucky charm bracelet and take turns wearing it, each hoping the bracelet works its magic. Caitlin hopes it will bring her some luck as she starts the year at a new school and deals with stress at home.
The Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron
When Ivan becomes lost without his mother in Moscow, he is almost certainly doomed to die in the cold Russian winter until he finds help in the form of a roaming pack of dogs, who adopt him into their pack! Together with his new family Ivan roams the streets, begging for money, foraging for food, and taking shelter wherever they can. When his family locates him, will he want to go back to living a human life?
A Whole Lot of Lucky by Danette Haworth
Hailee is embarrassed by her garage-sale bike, Goodwill clothes, and her father’s menial carpet cleaning job…until her parents win millions in the lottery. Suddenly she finds herself with a new cell phone in a new private school and surrounded by popular new friends…but all the changes are not exactly for the better. As new classmate Nikki drags Hailee into questionable situations, her old friendship with Amanda grows strained.