THE BAD LUCK CHAIR
by Sue Wilkowski
Dutton Children’s Books
ISBN-10: 0525477942
ISBN-13: 9780525477945
Ages 8-up
96 pages

Fourth-grader Addison “Addy” Darby has a history of misfortune with chairs. In first grade one of her shoelaces got caught in the leg of her seat, and she fell flat on her face --- the day before class pictures. In third grade, while waiting in the cafeteria for her bus to be called, she sat in a chair on top of an overturned sign that read “Bus Duty.” The sign, which had been taped to the wall, had fallen and landed face down on the chair. When Addy stood to get on her bus, she didn’t notice the sign stuck to the back of her pants. But after some of the other bus riders read the sign, they teased her about sitting in “doody.” Some of her classmates still do.

Following that humiliating incident, Addy (like Herman, her pet hermit crab) crawls into an imaginary shell, where she “feels invisible.” She’s happy to remain unnoticed and hardly ever speaks up in class.

Then one morning Addy walks into her classroom and sees the other students hovering around her desk. When they notice her, they point, whisper and step aside. Sam, Addy’s best friend, tells her the bad news: “It’s The Chair.” Over the weekend, Addy’s chair had been sent out for repairs and replaced with “The Bad Luck Chair.”

Like every other student at Brookside Elementary, Addy knows about the legend. If you even sit in the dreadful chair --- with its chipped corner, slime-green leg and the stain on its seat shaped like a skull --- you will be cursed with bad luck. Forever.

After Addy is assigned to sit in “The Bad Luck Chair,” she pleads with Ms. Stern, her teacher, to let her have a different chair. Ms. Stern refuses. Sam speaks up in Addy’s defense but to no avail. Brittney, who delights in tormenting Addy, makes fun of her and encourages others to do the same.

But a few classmates offer advice on how to avoid sitting in “The Chair.” And Katie O., whose older brother has experienced the chair’s curse, passes Addy a note. Katie claims to have secret information about reversing the curse and wants to speak with her. But Addy doesn’t want to talk to anyone, especially not Katie, who dresses weird and doesn’t seem to care if anyone teases her about how she looks.

Written in an un-superstitious 13 chapters, which include a smattering of science about the effects of magnets, THE BAD LUCK CHAIR is a quirky story about overcoming bad experiences, being true to oneself and taking chances by trusting others --- some pretty good lessons for children of any age.

   --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt (dvolkenannt@charter.net)

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