Judith Knox Peck Burnette
A local reading resource specialist determined that the reading level for The Unsinkable Lucy would be suitable for children in the higher third grade to lower fourth grade reading levels. Lucy’s struggles with life are equal to that of us humans. The story is about how a miniature poodle named Lucy copes with the disappearances (i.e. deaths) of her first owners that occurred three years apart. She shows the reader her journey of survival through the many changes she experiences in her young life. Lucy’s book can be considered a 'concept' story that unfolds through the thoughts and feelings of Lucy while she tries to grasp life through a wide range of emotions that go from love, happiness, loneliness, grief, anger, self-pity, fear, frustration, and eventually, all the way back to love and happiness. The author’s aspiration for writing this book was that it be used by either the family or the classroom as a teaching tool to openly discuss the various emotional ups and downs all children have at one time or another in their lives. The word 'unsinkable' was chosen because nothing, but nothing, could make Lucy continue a life of self pity; instead, she went forward, looking around each corner for a better way of life and she eventually found it! We love Lucy and we hope you do, too.
