The Luck Uglies #1
The Luck Uglies #2, Fork-Tongued Charmers
The Luck Uglies #3, Rise of the Ragged Clover
By Paul Durham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Boo-ya.
I just read all three books in The Luck Uglies series.
I wish I had a bell to ring.
Or a standing ovation to give.
Maybe just start cheering until I lose my voice?
I would…but that’d be awkward.
I’ll have to settle for a book review.
Middle-grade is so hard to write for. It has to be accessible for children who want to be thrilled, but aren’t ready to be thrilled. Usually, this means middle-grade books are dumbed down so much they become–well–dumb. That’s why I get excited when I discover an excellent middle-grade series…because it’s so hard to write right! (See what I did there?)
A talented author can do it.
Paul Durham did it.
The Luck Uglies is excellent.
The series is so well written and easy to read. The story is exciting. The action gets your heart racing. The heroes are regular kids who do brave things, even though their scared. The bad guys are rotten. The creatures are spooky. The main character is an 11-year-old girl who’s smart and strong, but also clumsy and stubborn. The importance of family. Honor. Keeping your word.
All while being content appropriate and accessible to young readers. Girls will love it. Boys will love it. Parents will love it. Adults who aren’t parents that like middle-grade fiction? Yep, you too.
BTW, the names in these books are wonderful. Best use of creative naming I’ve ever read. Seriously.
Thanks Paul Durham. You’ve won yourself a fan. What’s next?
RING-A-LING-A-LING-A-DING-DING-DING
[Slow clap, getting to my feet…clapping faster…faster..now cheering…AAAAAHHHHH!!!]
Lost my voice.
Happy reading!
Help support One Man Book Club! Use these links to buy:
The Luck Uglies #1
The Luck Uglies #2
The Luck Uglies #3
One Man Book Club 
12 responses to “#TheLuckUglies 1-3: Boo-Ya! I lost my voice…”
That’s quite the endorsement…
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Maybe a little over the top? I’ve read some pretty awful middle grade stuff… It’s refreshing to find some that’s actually good.
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“dumbed down so much they become–well–dumb” – that’s the perfect way to describe them. My kid’s not old enough to read yet, but I’m definitely adding these to the list for when he is. Awesome!
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Seriously. That’s why I get so pumped when I come across good ones. Hope you enjoy them!
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Sounds like it was brilliant!!
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Well, brilliant is relative… For middle grade that usually stinks, it was pretty great.
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haha yup- I can understand that!
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Just came over to see how you were doing, as I hadn’t seen anything for a couple of weeks. Glad you got your twitter link here, glad to know you aren’t dead 🙂
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Still alive and kicking! I’ve been book-silent because I’m currently beta-reading a 1000+ pager and I’ve been a sworn to secrecy. I’ve been blog silent because, well, life. 6 kids, as you know… If somethings got to give, blogging will be the first thing! Thanks for checking in on me, I appreciate it! I’ve got all these ideas for blog posts… One day I’ll get to them!
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Yep, family first!
and best of luck on the beta-read…
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Hmm. How have I missed these? I’ll definitely be looking for them the next time I’m at the library. Fantastic review!😊
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Great! I hope you enjoy them!
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