One of my dad's friends own a little used bookstore about ten minutes from where I live. Despite my sorta girly personality, I love old, interesting buildings, and this one really was a cool one; it used to be a tiny red horse barn, but they renovated it into something special.
But I really don't like old books, and it looked like that was about all they carried. I just knew I would pick a book up, buy it thinking, "ehh, maybe I'll read it," then, after reading half a page (yawn) throw it in the back of my bookshelf and never touch it again.
I was about to leave the neat little bookstore, disapointed, when a bright green spine of a little book caught my eye. "Lucky T," it read. I checked the summary on the back. It looked halfway decent, like it was actually around from this time period and not my gradparent's years. I bought it and started reading.
Carrie Fitzgerald has all the luck: she's popular, pretty, athletic, and has a really cute boyfriend. She gets all A's in school and never seems upset (I've always envied these types of people. Must they be so perfect? Ughh...). Want to know the secret of her success? A "lucky" tee shirt that her dad had given her long ago. Apparently she perceverates about this shirt a lot.
One day, Carrie notices her tee shirt isn't where she put it. After a frantic, desprerate search, her mom drops the bomb: she's donated the tee shirt to India.
Bad things start happening to Carrie right away. Her hot boyfriend breaks up with her right before a dance, her best friend, Piper, gets mad at her, and she gets a really bad grade on a subject that she's always been good at. This has never happened to her before! What will Carrie do?
Well, she must really love this shirt, because she's packing up her bags to fly off to India with Celia, her mom's friend who's helping with India, and Celia's snobby daughter, Doreen, who in her mind Carrie refers to as Dor-mean. They're landing in Calcutta, an entirely different world than where Carrie lives in San Fransisco.
Of course, Carrie gets off to a rocky start, blaming it all on the loss of her lucky T. First, she makes a comment about craving hamburgers, to which Prandya and Teensy, the people who meet them at the plane, get pissy about, since cow is sacred in India. Then she sees the hostel where she will be staying, and from what I've read, it's pretty shabby. A guy smoking a cigarette blows smoke in her direction, causing her to gag in disgust. Then she throws up.
Wow, poor Carrie.
The next day, Carrie is on a mission to find her lost tee shirt. After a few unfortionate hours, she literally bumps into Dee, a very cute Indian boy with a British accent. Dee is sweet but cocky, and Carrie likes him right away. He has a cool British accent. Dee shows her where he works, a children's shelter in west Calcutta and asks her if she would like to work there. Carrie is walking on air. A job with the cutest guy she has ever laid eyes on? Yes, please! (Actually, that wouldn't be half bad. I work at Walmart three days a week after school and the only guys there are fat and and middle-aged and don't have real employment.)
Aww! It starts to rain under the tarp and Carrie and Dee touch hands. Ahh, young love...*gets starry-eyed* :')
Um, okay. Here's what the book says.. O.O
A sudden flash pf a PG-13-rated daydream pulsed through Carrie's mind. She and Dee were lying in a hammock in the forest furiously making out when Carrie shook her head and got back to reality.
Great. Good for you, Carrie. Moving on.
Everything seems to go great when she arrives at the shelter, but then the dreaded DOR-MEAN enters the scene, reminding Carrie of what she has to do. She tells Dee all about how Carrie just came to Calcutta to find a little T shirt.
Oh, no! What will Dee think of that? He just thinks she came to help out with Help India... D:
At first, Dee is amused. He thinks Doreen's just joking around. But, of course, Carrie tells the truth. (Great, why did you TELL him, Carrie? Now he's going to think you're vain and stuck up. Well, you actually are. A little bit. No offence.)
Dee gets mad and Carrie leaves to her bed in tears.
The next day Carrie wakes up to little girls playing dressup with her clothes. She grows fond of them quickly and decides to stay. Dee, however, is ignoring her, and wants her to leave. Then Carrie shows the little girls and a couple boys how to shoot hoops. Mr. Banarjee, the manager of the shelter, comes out and praises her for her work.
Dee stops her in the hall and apoligizes to Carrie like a gentleman. He says that he has jumped to conclusions. Aww, how sweet! I like Dee a lot. He balances out Carrie's bittersweet selfishness, and together they make a good couple.
After returning to her room, Carrie discovers she has a letter from her mother and Piper, her best friend. Both the letters are sweet and Carrie gets all emotional. She decides to play a little basketball to try and ease her pain, thus meeting Dee. They sit down and talk awhile, and hold hands.
Aww, soo cute!!! ;D. I remember my first boyfriend. I thought it was going to last forever. But it only really lasted two days. We were in the sixth grade, so yeah. You know how it goes. :(
Then they play a little one on one. Carrie wins (girl power!!!)
Then they go out to a dance-sorta-thing while the night is still young. They dance in loving, perfect romance. But then the bad luck strikes again...
Carrie sees her lucky tee! It's heading straight towards her. Ignoring Dee's cries, she sprints after the clothing cart and dodges people and objects as she attempts to keep up with it the best she can. (Boy, if I were Dee, by now I would definently think this girl was crazy.)
But the cart gets away. Carrie starts to sob and hears Dee's footsteps coming closer...
It's not Dee! It's Dor-mean, and she's meaner than ever. Doreen asks her if she got the license plate on the moped, and then claims she has it. She'll give it to Carrie, on one condition: Carrie has to help her get a date with Dee! Oh, no!!!
Dee is as nice as ever though. Ahhh... I love him. He's actually not shallow like most guys in young adult books that I've read.
The next day, they're at a women's shelter, looking for the lucky T. So far, no luck. Carrie decides to tell Dee what luck the T-shirt brings to her. Dee says he doesn't believe in superstitions or bad luck. Then, with shaking hands, Carrie proceeds to tell him about Dor-mean.
But something else comes out of her mouth instead. She tells him that Doreen is very sick with cancer, and needs a boy in her life. She then asks him if he will go on a date with Dor-mean...
So, being the kind and thoughtful guy that he is, Dee agrees.
When they get back from their date, Carrie runs into Dee. She is so worked up she forgets she forgot to put on pants, thus flashing her Hello Kitty underwear. Teehee :3
Then Carrie hears someone throw a rock at her window. It's Dor-mean (duh duh DUHHH) and she wants to talk.
Doreen is crying and wants to know why Carrie told Dee the fib about her having cancer. Carrie explains. Turns out, to Carrie's relief, Doreen played along with the lie. The two girls make ammends and decide to be friends.
Aww, the next morning Dee says Carrie looks cute in her Hello Kitty undies. That's sweet... ish. A little bit over the top though, don't you think? O.O
It's her birthday in a couple days, so Carrie reads a bit about India and learns that the tradition is not to receive presents, but to give. (That's... different.) So they go to a toy shop and get dolls for the girls and toy trucks for the boys. Everyone is happy, even Carrie.
Sooo sweet!!! Dee takes her on top of a building to watch the sunset on her birthday. He gives her a sari and then kisses her romantically. That's amazing! I wish my kisses had been like that. I think that's really too perfect to be true.
The next day, Carrie decides to take the kids out on a walk. She picks a few flowers from a garden in a manison up the street. She comes home, very happy to show Dee, but he grows angry and says that she has stolen them and she has taught the kids it's okay to steal. (I love you, Dee, but Carrie's right. It's just a couple of flowers. He's overreacting a little bit, don't'cha think?)
Carrie flees in tears. She leaves the shelter and says goodbye to the kids.
She's on the bus, leaving to go to the airport, when she spots the moped lady from a couple days earlier. She commands the driver to stop the bus, pissing off the passengers, and races after the woman. After a long race, she catches up to her at the women's shelter called Calcutta Women's Misson. She's finally found it!!! Everything will be back to normal.
She talks to the moped woman, and the woman tells her that a little girl has it who is living here with her mother. She has no clothes and needs the T-shirt. Carrie offers to give the girl everything she has in her suitcase.
The girl is very poor, and has been abused by her uncle. She is very thin and small and weak. Carrie realizes that compared to her, Carrie has everything she could possibly want. A nice home, great parents, food, money, school... and this girl had nothing. So Carrie finally gives up the hunt. She lets the little girl have the T-shirt, and hugs her and lets her know that the t-shirt will bring her lots of luck. Carrie leaves with a smile on her face, knowing she has done the right thing.
Carrie soon returns to the children's shelter, happier than she's been in a long time. She hugs the kids, passes a gruff Dee, and, with shaking hands,confronts Mr. Banarjee. They agree on a plan. Carrie will do some gardening to make up for the stolen flowers.
Dee aploligizes once again (AWWW!!! :D) and almost says "I love you," to Carrie, but screws up and says I'm sorry instead. The two dance once again. They kiss goodbye. It's so lovely... :)
The end.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a fresh, fast paced novel that actually had a good plot. I would definently reccomend it to you.
What are you waiting for?
READ IT! :)
