A Big Dose of Lucky

by Marthe Jocelyn

  I spoke to Mrs. H. too. She has had a good rest, and her illness is subsiding as she recovers from the fire. She gave me news of the other Sevens, and now she has news of me to pass along back to them.

  I told her that I’ve found some siblings, but I didn’t say how exactly they’re related. I’m not grown-up enough yet to talk to old ladies about sex stuff. I also confessed that I haven’t read a single book since all this started, and she suggested that I get a library card, so I’m going to do that tomorrow. I’ll have to think of a new theme for my reading though.

  BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT

  I’m not an orphan. Not even half.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  For helping this book along, thank you:

  To Dr. Wilfred J Finegold, Dr. Mary Barton, Dr. Augustus Schellen and the many others who were early practitioners of artificial human insemination and wrote papers and books full of procedural details and strong opinions.

  To Breeanna Speicher and her half siblings on the television documentary Generation Cryo, for their dauntless search for family.

  To Dominique Hussey, for her extracurricular reading of the manuscript.

  To the Access Copyright Foundation for providing financial support exactly when I needed it.

  To the other Secrets writers, in anticipation of camaraderie and revelations to come.

  And especially to our editor, Sarah Harvey, for her blue language, her black humor and her intolerance for purple prose.

  MARTHE JOCELYN was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, a long time ago. She lived in New York City for thirty years before returning to Ontario, where she likes to work in the hammock or beside the fire, depending on the season. She has written over thirty books for babies, kids and teens. A Big Dose of Lucky is her first book with Orca. For more information, visit www.marthejocelyn.com.

  For more Secrets:

  www.readthesecrets.com

  Copyright © 2015 Marthe Jocelyn

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Jocelyn, Marthe, author

  A big dose of lucky / Marthe Jocelyn.

  (Secrets)

  Issued in print, electronic and audio disc formats.

  ISBN 978-1-4598-0668-9 (pbk.).—ISBN 978-1-4598-0669-6 (pdf).—

  ISBN 978-1-4598-0670-2 (epub).—ISBN 978-1-4598-1086-0 (audio disc)

  I. Title. II. Series: Secrets (Victoria, B.C.)

  PS8569.O254B54 2015 jC813'.54 C2015-901732-7

  C2015-901733-5 C2015-901734-3

  First published in the United States, 2015

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2015935534

  Summary: In this YA novel, Malou, a mixed-race orphan, is on her own for the first time, trying to discover her parents’ identities.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  Cover design by Teresa Bubela

  Cover images by iStockphoto.com and Shutterstock.com

  Author photo by Marthe Jocelyn

  ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

  www.orcabook.com