Lucky

by Eddie de Oliveira

A clever debut about love, sex, and everything in between, for anyone who's ever fallen for a friend (come on, admit it)

Sam is a teen boy who's attracted to both boys and girls. He doesn't know what to call himself or where he fits in. Then he meets Toby, another boy who likes both boys and girls. Are they destined to be just friends, more than friends, or less than friends? And what would happen if they were attracted to the same girl?

Love comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes all at once. In his brilliant, funny, and heartfelt debut, Eddie de Oliveira shows us there's more to life than being a wallflower or being knocked out by nunga-nungas.

Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Gay, Fiction, Queer, Gay Fiction, Teen

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

I was born in London to an Argentinian mother from an Italian family and a Brazilian father with Scotland, Portugal and Spain in his family tree. This mix made for entertaining football World Cup parties. I write screenplays and YA novels. I also work in publishing as a writer/editor of books and magazines, and I’m a freelance journalist. I like to cook and I like Fulham FC.

Reviews

[Delenn Jadzia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book during my freshman year of high school. I was at a not-quite-date with one of my friends, and he and I had stopped in a small bookstore. I think I first grabbed it because the spine's graphics and thought it was intriguing. I was fourteen, we were late for a movie, and I didn't have much of a chance to see what it was about, but it was less than $9.99 so I thought, "why not?" and bought it.
I read the entire thing that afternoon, and it has remained my favorite "young adult teen romance" book ever since. Apart from being the first book that I had ever read that explored the idea of bisexuality, the characters made dumb mistakes and found themselves in situations that I could see someone falling into. It was believable and beautiful and I have accidentally stayed up until one in the morning rereading it more than once. Perhaps it is the fact that I read it when I was looking for something with exactly the type of story that this book had, but especially in 9th grade, it was a great read.
My biggest complaint looking back, but not one that would warrant a deduction of stars, is the book's aversion to the actual word "bisexual". While I understand that there are people who avoid the word, and it is only a parallel of reality that the protagonist would be deterred by the specific label, the idea the main character presented of "bisexual" being a word to be... avoided, maybe even frowned upon, was not what may have been the most uplifting presentation of sexuality.
Reading it again as a proper adult, or at least someone approximating one, it's a flawed book. It's not the best written that I've read, for sure, and I wouldn't probably even say that I enjoy it actively now. However, it is what I needed to read back then, and though I wouldn't recommend it to my twenty-year-old friends now, I would have recommended it to those around me when I was fourteen or so. There's more and more representative media now, and I don't know if Lucky remains the best read for someone in my shoes back then, but I do appreciate having read it.
Whatever my opinions now, Eddie, if you ever read this: Thank you for writing this book.

[Yar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

At certain points the author seems to repeat himself and gets a little too wordy.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little torn on this one. For what it is, I really did enjoy the book; most of the characters were portrayed well, I loved the idea of sitting on the toilet to think over heavy stuff (though it was a bit overused), and the secret friend at the soccer games was an interesting subplot. However, I found the soccer practice scenes and game talk a little drawn out. I know nothing about soccer so sometimes I felt a bit lost. I'm also not overly thrilled about The bisexual male friend Sam makes in the story. I feel like the author played into a stereotype here, and the way the character very quickly falls for a gorgeous girl without any thought for his friend didn't sit well with me. I did like though how many characters come to fight against their own prejudices. Overall, it's a decent read. It's definitely clever. Though you may want urbandictionary handy--there's a lot of British/English slang in there I only knew by nature of having a British friend!

[Coffeeboss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that Sam is beyond high school, he has just admitted to himself that he has feelings for girls... and boys when he meets the intriguing Toby. Sam is funny and nervous and often blurts out things at the wrong time, and he does his best thinking while sitting in the loo. He's just a guy on the local "football" squad who is sorting out his feelings for another guy that may be bisexual, just like him. There is a lot of British slang in this story, but it is easy to follow, and I liked the narrator's inherent awkwardness at this time in his life, which is easy to relate to.

[Kat Drennan-Scace · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare that bisexual boys are portrayed in books for whatever reason so this was a refreshing change. It's your typical GLBT story - Sam, a british teen is trying to come to terms with liking both boys and girls - but it was charming and fun. Sam plays on a football team and it was interesting to me, a girl who has never really played on a sports team, how that came into it. A good GLBT YA read!

[Terry]

It is easy for teens to relate to what the author is saying. I would not recommend this book to children, but to very mature teenagers. See the summary and review at the Reading Tub.

[Ben Pound · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great coming of age novel about two bisexual teenagers and their struggle to figure out their individual identity in a world that insists on labels. It is touching at times and also heartbreaking. Set in England, it is chock full of great English slang and lots of football.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would make a great read for any teenager who is questioning their own sexuality. I would have liked to have gotten to know some of the other characters better. I forgot how easy to read some YA books are.

[Brandon Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I read on the PUSH Imprint, and I'd wished I'd found it sooner.

[Destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't no what to say right about know.