You May Already Be a Winner

by Ann Dee Ellis

Overview

For fans of Ali Benjamin’s The Thing About Jellyfish and Katherine Applegate’s Crenshaw comes the humorous and heart aching story of one girl’s struggle to keep hope alive for her and her younger sister in Sunny Pines Trailer Park.

Twelve-year-old Olivia Hales has a foolproof plan for winning a million dollars so that she and her little sister, Berkeley, can leave behind Sunny Pines Trailer Park.

But first she has to:
·  Fix the swamp cooler and make dinner and put Berkeley to bed because her mom is too busy to do all that
·  Write another letter to her dad even though he hasn’t written back yet
·  Teach Berk the important stuff, like how to make chalk drawings, because they can’t afford day care and Olivia has to stay home from school to watch her
·  Petition her oddball neighbors for a circus spectacular, because there needs to be something to look forward to at dumb-bum Sunny Pines
·  Become a super-secret spy to impress her new friend Bart
·  Enter a minimum of fourteen sweepstakes a day. Who knows? She may already be a winner!

Olivia has thought of everything . . . except herself. Who will take care of her when she needs it? Luckily, somewhere deep down between her small intestine and stomach is a tiny voice reminding her that sometimes people can surprise you—and sometimes your family is right next door.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101993873
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	07/11/2017
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
Sales rank:	309,511
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Ann Dee Ellis lives in Utah with her husband and five children. She is the author of the YA novels This is What I Did:, Everything is Fine, and The End or Something Like That.  You May Already Be a Winner is her middle grade debut.


From the Hardcover edition.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

One day I sunk to the bottom of the pool and died.

People were screaming and a boy named Troy jumped in and even though he was a lifeguard and he had a whistle, he was scared.

Very very scared.

He jumped in and I saw him coming and I said, “Too late. I’m already dead.” And he said, nothing. Because he was lugging my body to the surface.

People screamed. Especially Mom.

She was saying: “NO! NO! NO! MY BABY!”

And someone was holding her back because she was trying to jump in with me and Troy, but this would only complicate things.

Troy tried tried tried to get me over to the side of the pool and there was a crowd, including my old best friend Carlene and her new best friend Bonnie. They were bawling and the other lifeguards were yelling at Troy and he was saying, “I GOT IT!”

I was flopping around, turning blue, and now my mom was passed out.

When he finally got me to the deck, his lips were on my lips and he was breathing hard into my lungs. Though I’d never been kissed, my soft mouth molded to his as he tried to breathe life back into my body. During one of the intervals he was surprised to find himself no longer blowing breath into my mouth. But rather I was blowing breath into his.

“Olivia.

“Olivia.

“OLIVIA!”

I splashed up from the back float, the sound of the water and people and Mom.

She stood on the deck with her hand on her hip, her Naturalizer shoes, and her horrible Merry Maids uniform.

Everyone stared at her.

“What is wrong with you? Get your sister and get out. We’re leaving.”

A man with a snake tattoo on his neck gave me a sorry look and I gave him a none-of-your-business look, and Mom said, “Did you hear me?”

“Okay,” I said.

“Where is she?” Mom said.

“She’s right . . .”

I looked around. She was here. She was just here. Playing with a little boy in the shark shorts.

“Where is she, Olivia?”

“Hang on,” I said.

The pirate ship was swarming with kids but no pink swimsuit.

My heart fluttered. I never lost her. Ever.

I swam to the side.

Nowhere.

The other side.

Panic now.

“Olivia,” Mom said.

Then a lady in a bikini said to me, “She’s over there.”

At the corner of the pool stood my baby sister in her pigtails and chubby bum, talking to a man. A very big man with a big belly and a big beard, crouching down next to her.

Mom probably saw it at the same time because she let out a shriek.

And even though it was okay, even though his name was Kyle and he worked for the DMV and he was trying to help Berkeley find me, even though all those things, I got grounded for a week.

Editorial Reviews

When I closed the last page I wanted to jump on Olivia’s tramp, just to celebrate her resounding resilience. This book is a love story for all those kids who have had to grow up way too soon, but who also face life with commitment, fortitude and above all, dedication.”—KATHI APPELT, author of the Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist THE UNDERNEATH
 
“Olivia’s voice captured me from the first line, but it was her bravery and devotion to her family that kept me reading to the end. The only thing stronger than her imagination is her heart, and my own broke for her as I read. Unforgettable.”—CASSIE BEASLEY, author of the New York Times bestseller CIRCUS MIRANDUS
 
“I felt like I hit the jackpot when I read this book. Olivia’s story is lively, full of heart, and a must-read for anyone who knows what it feels like to hope and dream big.”—ALLY CONDIE, author of New York Times bestseller MATCHED and SUMMERLOST

"Distinct, colorful, richly imaginative, thoroughly authentic, often hilarious, and frequently heartbreaking...Readers of this memorable novel will feel like winners, too."—Kirkus Reviews

"Olivia’s first-person narrative fills brief,expressive chapters where she mixes fantasy and real life at will, all in a lyrical, poetic voice. Ellisrealistically taps into the kind of magical thinking so typical of kids trying to solve big problems, andplenty of readers might recognize themselves in the appealingly optimistic, daydreaming Olivia."—Booklist

From the Publisher

05/01/2017
Gr 4–6—With her father gone and her mother working overtime, there is never enough food, money, or attention in 12-year-old Olivia Hales's life. She enters multiple contests a day because the words, "You may already be a winner" give her hope for a better future. She takes care of her little sister Berk during the day, even skipping school to do so. When neighbor boy Bart notices that Olivia has been sacrificing school and friendships to care for her younger sister, he tells on her, bringing her carefully constructed plans to an end. The quirky characters and drama keep the story interesting and imaginative. The young characters deal with divorce, abandonment, and adult responsibilities. Short chapters include letters Olivia writes to her father. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy realism with roller-coaster emotional arcs.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta.

School Library Journal

2017-04-17
A down-at-the-heels sweepstakes entrant discovers she's had good luck all along.Twelve-year-old white Olivia enters lotteries and contests hoping for a big payoff; maybe her family can leave their trailer park. Dad's gone, Mom's overworked, money's tight. Olivia has more responsibilities than a kid should. She frequently misses school to watch over her 5-year-old sister, Berkeley, because day care is unaffordable; she's their de facto teacher; and she does all household chores. She vents, but in a first-person, present-tense voice that's distinct, colorful, richly imaginative, thoroughly authentic, often hilarious, and frequently heartbreaking. Readers will easily be drawn into Olivia's experiences, sometimes-bizarre daydreams, and daily disappointments, and they will admire her resilience and fierce devotion to family. Though Olivia doesn't credit it immediately, her neighbors are devoted to her too, not least quirky, white schoolmate Bart, self-proclaimed FBI agent, who becomes her steadfast friend. Meanwhile, neighbors are preparing to launch a first-ever community circus, an idea Olivia casually mentioned to give Berkeley something fun to contemplate—but never actually expected would materialize. A turning point when Olivia's ordered to return to school and must secretly stow Berkeley strains credulity but is suspenseful and triggers an emotional, satisfying climax. Ellis develops her supporting cast with nuance and increases readers' investment in Olivia with such details as her heartbreakingly one-sided correspondence to her father. Readers of this memorable novel will feel like winners, too. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews