A somewhat slow realistic fiction story about a girl who looks for signs everywhere after an accident two years prior which she thinks she should have seen coming. Her focus on signs presents as similar to OCD and magical thinking but it appears only sporadically in the story. She meets a runaway girl whose parents are divorcing and they help each other. A somewhat odd story, and the MC never tells anyone about the runaway she is harboring. Not sure whether I would recommend this to kids at my library.

This is such a fun middle grade book to read. The plot and the character developments are so cute. The story started with the simple life of Lizzy, who was doing a charity work for her local animal shelter with her best friend, Joss. Then it developed into a wonderful plot of hope, kindness, friendship, and family. Lizzy met new friends, the Good Luck Girl and a stray cat she named Smoky. Through its simple plot, Susan Lubner really succeded in bringing out the readers’ emotions.

I would recommend this for your children or younger siblings to read. The coming of age plot really took the spotlight. Even I would love to buy this book later on and save it for my children in the future (still a long time in the future… but yeah).

First, I would like to thank the publisher and author for the ARC of this title via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am having a hard time reviewing this book. The writing was good. The main character, Lizzy, and her family were sweet and likable. Its nice to see a youth book about a happy family working together- in this case literally and figuratively. They own and run a family diner under their apartment where they all work together and are also working together to overcome loss, support each other, and help each other.. That's all nice and good. Then you have the runaway and my rating goes down. I did not like the storyline of an 11 yr old running away, I get that she was sad and mad about her parent's divorce. I can see how she would want to get away for a bit or could even want to lash out at her parents, but the story portrays it so lightly when it could've been so dangerous to her. I didn't like that she ran, I didn't like that 12 yr old girls were lying to their parents to let her stay. I think her story could have been told without having the element of her running away. So many terrible things could have happened to her and it wraps up too easily with no trouble, no consequences to the runaway or the girls that hid her. I couldn't agree with that aspect and felt it took away from the enjoyment and overall message of the book.

Great book! I can’t not wait until the book is published and my daughter can read it. I think it will be a good book for her.

This is a little gem of a book set in Maine that will not leave readers untouched. The characters are likable and genuine, and readers will feel for their losses and celebrate their successes. But don't read this book on an empty stomach! Lizzy's sandwich creations from her parent's diner are delicious. This book also spurs readers to make a difference in their communities- like Joss and Lizzy (and even Charlotte), and what it really means to be a friend and a family. Lovers of cats (and dogs) will find this book extra special.

This was an entertaining book about Lizzy, her friend Joss, and this young girl they find living rough in a decrepit house across the street from Lizzy's family restaurant where Lizzy also helps out. It's almost an exhausting book to read because there's always something going on! I don't know where Lizzy gets the energy! She is a sweet-hearted girl who helps out at the local animal rescue center and is working with Joss to produce cat sweaters to sell to raise funds for the shelter.

Her soft spot for down-on-their-luck pets is what gets her into that building where she and Joss encounter Charlotte, who has run away from home because her family is breaking up, and she can't stand to see it. Lizzy and Joss promise not to give the girl away, but when the house across the street burns down, Lizzy ends up taking in another stray, and Charlotte starts living in her closet!

I don't normally comment on covers because they're usually nothing to do with the author, and my blog is about writing: interiors, not covers! But I have to say in this case, the cover image is quite charming. I liked it very much.

Overall this book was fun, engaging, told a great story, and really brought me, as a reader, in. Even though it's not aimed anywhere near me, I'm happy to be collateral damage in this case! It touches on some delicate topics with appropriate humor, sensitivity, and complete honesty. I recommend it as a worthy read.

It was a quick cute read! I enjoyed it and it was a book I can pass on to my daughter! I can't wait to see what she thinks about this book also!

"Lizzie and the Good Luck Girl" by Susan Lubner will be released November 6th, 2018. This book is well written book about friendship, love, hope, and Cats.
Lizzie is a 12 year old girl who lives with her parents, two cats, and dog in an apartment over their diner. Lizzie's Mom is having a baby, having a baby is hard for her parents leaving Lizzie worried for her Mom and the baby.
Lizzie and her best friend Joss love cats and are planning to raise money for the local shelter by knitting "cat sweaters". They believe this is a very good idea since dogs like to wear sweaters, cats should too. Unfortunately they do later discover cats do not like sweaters! They do not let that get their charity fundraiser get them down, they decide to knit something else for the cats.
Lizzie and Joss love for cats leads them into the abandoned house next door where they have seen a stray cat. They figure the cat has kittens and they should rescue them. What they find is much bigger than a kitten, there is a 11 year old girl Charlotte hiding in a closet.
Charlotte ran away from home in hopes of preventing her parents divorce.
Lizzie believes Charlotte will be good luck and decides to hide her in her room so she can help her better.
This story is about a lot of things, but what I love is the hope that Lizzie and Charlotte give each other. I loved this book and look forward to reading more books by the author.

Note: I received this book from the author/publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought that this was a sweet story about hope, luck, and trying to find the good in life. Lubner was successful in creating a middle grade novel that handled some serious subjects (loss, divorce, fear) in a nice way that didn't feel too overwhelming or depressing. I liked the characters (human and feline alike) and the setting was gorgeous- can't beat living over your family's diner in Maine! While this was well written, I did think there were parts that seemed a little scattered or underdeveloped. I think this may have been a book that would have benefited from a dual perspective- especially to see Charlotte's (the runaway girl) side of things. I also thought the use of signs/ Lizzy's obsession with finding them was only partially addressed and felt a little extreme at times (like to the point where I was wondering when Lizzy was going to be going to see a therapist to discuss her obsession with listening to "signs"). Overall, this is definitely a very heartfelt and deep book but has a nice message and is told in a very sweet way.

As a cat lover, this book was right up my alley! The characters were great and I loved the friendships that formed between some of them! I think it is a good chapter book for kids, especially those who love animals!

What a heart-warming tale about a superstitious girl trying to do the right thing. 12 year-old Lizzy lives above her family's diner- loved this quaint setting! She is working through fears related to the traumatic car accident that impacted her family's life. When her concern about a stray cat leads Lizzy to an abandoned building and a runaway girl, she sees it as a sign and offers the girl protection by offering up her bedroom closet. When the building mysteriously catches fire, Lizzy becomes a suspect. She often made me giggle with her cute quips.... "If this was a scene from a TV show, I would be lawyering up." This book is quietly satisfying. I will be adding it to our school library when it is released on November 6th, 2018. Thank you NetGalley for sharing this advance reader copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

Lizzy brings lots of animals home, and she is actually hanging out with her best friend, Joss, when she sees just one more cat that she feels needs a home, but what they discover in the empty building across from her family's dinner is not just a cat, but a girl, who has run away from home.

And of course, she brings her home, eventually, with her. She just doesn't tell her parents.

And she never tells her parents.

This is a story of Lizzy, who is suffering from the grief of losing her baby sibling en utero, because of her mothering being injured in a car accident, while pregnant, and from that point on, looking for signs to let her know what is coming next. Because, she feels that if she can read the signs around her, she won't be so afraid of what fate has in store for her.

It is an interesting take on the run away stories that abound in children's literature. Usually, a parent intervenes, and they make everything work out. But, in this book, Joss and LIzzy have enough sense, and thought as to how to solve the problem by themselves. Very unusual for a modern children's book to go that route. Reminds me of older books, from the Victorian era, where the kids figured everything out without the parent even noticing that something was amiss.

The children are well rounded, the story moves along at a good clip, and Lizzy is a very realistic child, as is Charlette, the good luck girl, because she has a four leaf clover drawn on her hand, like a tattoo.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review..

I found the concept of this book to be unusual and kept thinking how probable it was to hide someone in your closet and not feel the moral responsibility to tell someone. While Lizzy does begin to feel as though she should tell someone about the girl in her closet it is not until she has been hiding her for several days. Unfortunately I could not wrap my head around this and found the book to be unrealistic.