A Big Dose of Lucky by Jocelyn Marthe

This review was originally published in YA Books for Donor Offspring blog, republished with permission from Patricia Sarles.

Since she was a day old, the only world Malou Gillis has ever known is the 16 years she spent living in the Benevolent Home. When a fire breaks out one night, completely burning the home to the ground, Malou is told it is time for her and all the other teenage girls living there to leave to make their way in the world. Before she goes though, Mrs. Hazelton gives Malou two clues to her past - a baby bracelet with the words "Baby Fox" inscribed on it and the town of Parry Sound,  about 5 hours from the orphanage where she grew up. Having nothing except the $138.00 that was given to her,  Malou sets off to see if she can find out who her parents are. A series of unusual coincidences lead her to a job at the hospital where she is pretty sure she was born, a piece of paper with seven names on it, which she finds in the hospital's record room, one of whom she suspects is her mother's, and an encounter with several young people who all share her brown skin color. But it isn't until Malou shows up in town that they will all learn how they are connected. It turns out they were all donor-conceived at that same hospital. Does that mean they are all siblings and that Malou was donor-conceived as well? And if so, how do two parents go through all that trouble to have a baby only for that baby to end up in an orphanage? Except for one graphic description of how exactly men make deposits in the case of sperm donation, there is no sex, violence, or foul language in this book. Recommended for ages 12 and up. --Patricia Sarles

Jocelyn, Marthe. A Big Dose of Lucky. Victoria, British Columbia: Orca Book Publishers, 2015. Print.

Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS is the librarian at the Jerome Parker Campus Library in Staten Island. She writes and edits the blog, YA Books for Donor Offspring.