Three Times Lucky (312 Pages)

This is the first book I've read by author Sheila Turnage. It is probably best as a read aloud for 5/6/7 grades. I'm not sure if they will get all of the humor, and it is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time! Mo (short for Moses) is a little girl whose mother gave birth to her during a hurricane and as the water was rising attempted to save her life by wrapping her in a blanket at putting her on a billboard that was floating downstream. She was found by a man known only as Colonel who with Miss Lana took her in as their own. Tupelo Landing in North Carolina is the setting for this book and the accents of the various characters is as thick as Southern grits! Mo spends much of the book writing a journal to her "Upstream Mother." She sends notes in bottles to her and members of the community help by taking the bottles with them when they are leaving the Landing for other parts. Mo's best friend, Dale is also a great character. He's the smallest boy in the 6th grade, hates math, and will do almost anything for Mo. Between Mo, Dale, the Colonel and Miss Lana, activities in this book are non-stop. It's a great story of what the word "family" really means, and what it means to be a friend.